Oxford United suffered a second defeat of the Easter weekend as the U’s went down 2-1 at home to Accrington Stanley.
The result leaves Karl Robinson’s side six points off the playoffs with just seven fixtures remaining. While it’s not mathematically impossible, finishing in the top six seems unlikely now and many fans have already started to focus on next season.
Despite that, Robinson saw positives from the game against Stanley. Speaking to the club’s official website, the U’s boss said: “I thought the performance was good and I thought we were the better team but I thought the desire to score goals didn’t seem there.
“I’m not using playing at Sunderland on Friday as an excuse – Accrington played as well then travelled down here so I’m not having that, although they did look a bit fresher than us.
“We’re going back to the beginning of the season where we looked fragile in both boxes. We get in the box or we put set pieces outside the goal which means your centre back is trying to head it 15 yards from goal.
“I am a bit baffled. I don’t want to hammer the players because they gave everything. I thought we played well but we lost again.
“I don’t want to blame travel, or fans not being here or anything like that. I thought a lot of players played well, we created a lot of opportunities but not a great one, we conceded a silly goal from a set-piece but otherwise, I thought we were dominant.
“We pressed late on and the game was played in their half – at this stage, you are going to miss fans because they play such a big role when fatigue kicks in. It was a hard game to analyse but I am disappointed and upset.
“We have seven games now and this result makes things a lot harder but let me analyse the game, watch it back, and then we will come in, talk it through on Wednesday and be ready to go again on Saturday.”
The U’s travel to Crewe on Saturday hoping to get their playoff push back on track.
