Barnsley: Former striker Moore says serious injury contributed to Reds exit

Moore suffered a fractured skull after a clash of heads at Gillingham and it threatened to not only derail his part in the Reds' promotion, but also end his career.

The striker made a quick recovery and was back in the side for the promotion party, but he chose not to stick around for the club's Championship journey and – along with a host of others - subsequently left Oakwell in the summer.

Moore joined Championship rivals Wigan after several months of speculation and he says the injury made him evaluate what he wanted from life and his football career.

Speaking while on international duty with Wales, the 27-year-old said: “I believe that moment (fracturing his skull) has put a lot of things into perspective for me.

“How l live my life and what I want from my career as a footballer.

“There were talks about retiring, but I made a very good recovery and now I'm here.

“I still have to go up for headers, and if I believed I couldn't do that any more I would walk out of the game.

“If the ball is there to be won then I'm going to try and win it and I’ll give everything for the cause like I've done the whole of my career.''

The Reds begin the Gerhard Struber era away at Blackburn on Saturday.