Robinson rues missed chances but remains confident Oxford can escape trouble

Posted Sunday, October 21, 2018 by PA

Karl Robinson insists his Oxford side will climb the League One table once they become clinical in front of goal after seeing them play out a goalless draw at Bristol Rovers.

The United manager was encouraged by a tenacious second-half display in the face of Rovers pressure, but rued the failure to capitalise on first-half superiority at the Memorial Stadium.

Robinson said: “The difference between us and a top side at the moment is that teams at the right end of League One would have been 2-0 up at half-time with a similar performance.

“It is the story of our season so far that we have not taken our chances. We had three or four good ones to put the game to bed.

“Neither side have been doing well so the opening goal today might well have proved crucial and we should have got it.

“Having said that, I saw something new from my team in the way they defended when Rovers changed their system in the second half.”

Robinson was upset that Rovers defender Tony Craig escaped with just a yellow card for a 16th-minute clash that left Jamie Mackie flattened.

“We saw it as a red card from our bench, but I am not here to referee the game,” said the Oxford boss, who believes fellow strugglers Rovers are also in something a false position in the table.

“Rovers are a better side than their league position suggests and so are we.

“I am not concerned with how they fare for the rest of the season, but I know we can improve and move up.”

Both sides hit the woodwork with headers, Oxford defender Curtis Nelson seeing his 40th-minute effort come back off the foot of a post, while Rovers striker Tom Nichols hit the crossbar in the 62nd minute.

The home side looked a lot more threatening after boss Darrell Clarke made a double half-time substitution, sending on Kyle Bennett and Sam Matthews for Alex Jakubiak and Ollie Clarke.

Manager Clarke said: “Both Kyle and Sam began finding pockets, which made our forward play so much more effective.

“With two strikers, we didn’t look like scoring, but with just Tom Nichols up front in the second half we gave him much more support and had a number of chances.

“People can talk all they like about systems. The fact is that we didn’t keep the ball well enough in the first half.

“Over my years as manager we have always been a threat going forward and in the second half we were much more like ourselves. We looked after the ball better and that enabled us to play some football.

“Tony Craig has taken a bash on a cheek, which will need looking at before Tuesday’s home game against Wimbledon and we have one or two other concerns.

“Hopefully, we can carry on where we left off here because we looked the more likely winners come the end.”