The Wales striker is now a major doubt for Wales’ crunch World Cup play-off clashes after suffering a hamstring injury that also threatens his availability for his club’s promotion push towards the Premier League.
Wrexham’s bid for a Championship play-off place suffered a setback as they lost 2-1 at home to Hull City, with manager Phil Parkinson suggesting his team lacked its usual sharpness after a demanding few days and a string of injury problems.
The Dragons had the chance to leapfrog Hull into fifth place with a victory, but instead slipped to their first league defeat in five matches.
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Goals from Joe Gelhardt and Lewis Koumas, one in each half, put the visitors firmly in control before Nathan Broadhead struck in the 76th minute to briefly raise hopes of a late fightback that ultimately never materialised.
The result came only three days after Wrexham’s dramatic 4-2 extra-time defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round, a draining encounter that appeared to have lingering effects.
Parkinson’s side were also without their leading scorer Moore, while George Dobson was suspended following his red card against Chelsea.
Reflecting on the mood around the squad, Parkinson admitted there may have been a psychological dip before kick-off.
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“I just felt there’s an element of maybe Kieffer getting injured, Dobbo suspended, a little bit maybe feeling sorry for ourselves,” Parkinson said.
“We’ve always had a real resilience about us here. We’ve had lots of games, lots of moments where people have said, ‘How are they going to come back from that setback?’.
“And I just felt with the news about Kieffer and Libby (Cacace, also injured) and things like that, I just felt within the dressing room there was that little bit of flatness.
“But we’ve got to be bigger than that and we’ve got to come out fighting on Friday (against Swansea).”
Much of the attention after the match centred on Moore’s injury and what it might mean for both club and country.
The 33-year-old striker, Wrexham’s top scorer this season with 13 goals, had appeared as a substitute in the FA Cup loss to Chelsea but missed the Hull match after scans revealed a hamstring tear.
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Parkinson explained the issue emerged shortly after the weekend game.
"It was kind of after the [Chelsea] game really, there was a bit of tightness there," he said.
"We thought he was OK, he trained on Monday, and then we sent him for a scan and there's a split in the tendon which has shown up."
The diagnosis casts doubt over Moore’s availability for Wales’ upcoming World Cup qualifying play-off.
Wales are scheduled to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semi-final at Cardiff City Stadium on 26 March, with a potential final against either Italy or Northern Ireland five days later.
Parkinson admitted the timing of the injury leaves little room for optimism.
“I think we’ll know more in a week or two, but well, it’s a week or two that it’s coming up so I’d say his a doubt for that, a big doubt,” he said.
Hull controlled large spells of the contest and were rarely threatened until Broadhead’s late strike.
The victory marked their eighth away win in the last 10 matches and strengthened their grip on a play-off position, leaving them six points ahead of Wrexham and nine clear of Derby in seventh.
The result also carried a sense of redemption for Hull after their Carabao Cup visit to the same ground in August.
On that occasion they had led 3-1 before conceding two late goals from Ollie Palmer, eventually losing on penalties.
Hull head coach Sergej Jakirovic praised his side’s performance and the significance of the win.
“It’s a very important three points and a very big victory against a very good team. They have shown it all season, they are playing good football, especially at home.
“They are very dangerous and you never know here even if it’s two or three zero because we had already one experience in the summer in the EFL Cup…I think tonight we played very well.”
