ROBINSON HAILS PATCHED-UP U’S
OXFORD manager Karl Robinson will hope to get some of his players back on duty for the trip to AFC Wimbledon after his depleted side battled to victory over Lincoln.
The game was settled by a stunning 30-yard drive from U’s midfielder Shandon Baptiste after 36 minutes.
Robinson said: “We looked a little sluggish and – something I wouldn’t have mentioned had we lost – we had four or five players who were ill.
“So I’m massively proud of my players, and of our fans. To get a third successive 10,000-plus gate for the first time since we’ve been at the Kassam Stadium is phenomenal.”
The match represented a first return to the ground for former Oxford boss Michael Appleton.
Robinson said: “When you have a manager going back to his old club, that motivates him and his players, and they were desperate to put in a better performance after we won 6-0 at their place.
“But they didn’t have a shot on target and they didn’t open us up – but they did frustrate us in the second half.”
In stoppage time, substitute John Akinde nearly snatched an equaliser for Lincoln, only to see his firm header come back off a post.
Robinson admitted: “In the last minute I thought it was in. It really looked to be going in from where I was.”
Earlier, U’s striker Matty Taylor just failed to turn in Chris Cadden’s cross and Cameron Brannagan brought a good save out of Josh Vickers.
Lincoln players were furious to see United defender John Mousinho only yellow carded for cynically pulling back Tyler Walker when he raced towards goal midway through the second half.
Lincoln boss Appleton felt referee Will Finnie’s decision to only brandish a yellow card to Mousinho was the turning point of the match.
With a home game against promotion contenders Ipswich next up, Appleton said: “They should have been down to 10 men. It was a blatant, blatant sending-off at a stage when we were massively on top in the second half.
“I’m delighted with my players – I thought we had them on the ropes in the second half.
“The goal was an absolute worldie, a wonder strike, and my goalkeeper could do nothing about that.
“But if we play like that for the rest of the season we’ll win a lot of matches and we’ll be fine.
“We just need to be better in the box. I do believe Oxford will finish in the top two and go up automatically because they have a good manager, good staff and a really, really good group of players and good players on the bench who can change things.
“To be honest we’re a million miles from that. Ours is very much a work in progress and, hopefully, in the next month we can change that a bit.”