Robinson urges side to snap up chances

KARL Robinson insisted his Oxford side will climb the table once they become clinical in front of goal.

The 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.

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 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.

“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 was denied by the crossbar after 62 minutes.

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.

Oxford deserved to be ahead at the interval. Shandon Baptiste had a shot cleared off the line by Tom Lockyer before being subbed with a shoulder injury after 41 minutes.

Rovers keeper Jack Bonham made a fine low saves to keep out shots from Marcus Browne and James Henry. But Clarke’s men were much more of a threat after the break, with Nichols, Ed Upson and the lively Bennett going close to snatching a winner.

Manager Clarke said: “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.”