Organisers of Mike Ford's testimonial are paying a small fortune to insure former Oxford United star Matt Elliott for £7.5m so that he can play in the game.

The Scotland defender's Premiership club Leicester City agreed to release him to play in the testimonial, against a Manchester United XI at the Manor on May 8, but only if the organisers took out special insurance.

"We've had confirmation from Matt that he'll play, which is great news," said Richard Rosser, one of the members of the testimonial committee. "We have had to take on the insurance and obviously, for £7.5m, it's a significant premium."

Rosser would not disclose how much they are having to pay, but it's believed to run into thousands of pounds. "It's costing us quite a bit, but we felt we needed to do this. Matt is one of the star attractions of the night," he said.

Elliott's value has increased enormously since he left Oxford for Leicester in a £1.6m deal three years ago. He scored both goals in Leicester's 2-1 Worthington Cup final win over Tranmere at Wembley which put the Foxes into Europe.

Elliott, the Leicester skipper, and Ford, who was skipper when Elliott was at Oxford, are good friends and they have kept in touch regularly since they both left the Manor.

Another to confirm his appearance at the testimonial is former United goal king Paul Moody - subject to Millwall's permission which may depend on whether they have gained automatic promotion or are in the play-offs.

And by a twist of fate, the game which may decide that will have taken place two days earlier - Millwall v United at the New Den, which could also determine whether the U's are relegated or not.

More than 1,800 tickets for the testimonial have already been sold.

United ticket office supervisor Darren Bowler said: "To have sold so many tickets with the game still so far away is amazing." The Testimonial Committee believe that, if there are around 3,000 advance ticket sales, they should get a gate of around 5,000.

MARK Watson is a doubt for United's vital Division 2 game against Burnley on Saturday after scalding his foot.

Boss Denis Smith said: "Neil McGowan has trained with us and Paul Lundin is back in full training, but there's now a worry over Mark Watson."

It's believed Watson spilled a hot drink on his foot.

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Story date: Wednesday 12 April

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