Karl Robinson admitted Oxford United used 'gamesmanship' after Bolton Wanderers scored to help them to victory over the Whites as the U's boss paid compliments to Ian Evatt's side.
The visitors took the lead in the first half when Djavan Anderson finished from close range after Wanderers failed to clear. James Trafford stopped it being two with a point blank save from Elliott Moore's header.
Josh Sheehan nearly levelled before the break but Simon Eastwood's smart reflexes kept him out. After the interval, Ciaron Brown added the visitors' second to put them in the driving seat.
READ MORE: Bolton Wanderers player ratings & match report vs Oxford United - Dion Charles good in loss
But Wanderers were handed hope when Dion Charles slotted home to reduce the deficit. However, that proved to be short lived as Steve Seddon got the last touch from a corner to score Oxford's third and which ultimately sealed three points for the visitors with a 3-1 scoreline.
Charles went very close to equalising for Wanderers, nearly connecting with Aaron Morley's cross moments after he halved the deficit. It was not long however, before Seddon scored from the corner to restore the visitors' two-goal advantage.
Robinson was pleased with the end result against a Wanderers side he rates highly. After watching how Wanderers were revitalised after the midweek equaliser versus Burton Albion which ended in victory, Robinson admitted his side slowed the game down in the build-up to their crucial third goal.
He said: “Tactically, I thought we were magnificent, the players took on board everything. It was nice seeing it from afar and I thought our performance levels were superb.
“I think the attention to detail was vitally important. I think we know how good Bolton are, they’re a good team, well coached, some really good athletic players, especially centrally and one thing about this football club is they’ve got a really good squad and I think having a good squad allowed them to rotate and if you look consistently over the last three or four weeks, they’ve rotated so the energy levels have always been very good.
“We know how young our team was and to stick to the game plan, they’re a very athletic and capable team, so we’re really proud.
“The first goal was always important when you come here. I watched the game back from Tuesday (vs Burton) and you know when that goal goes in, you’re always going to be vulnerable.
“But to go ahead for me, if you look at the last two or three weeks when they’ve gone behind, they’ve always had an opportunity to come back, so there wasn’t a chance to celebrate, it was always can we get that second?
“Their goal comes and they had a chance at the back post and I think it could have been so different, but then our patience and we slowed the game down when they had their best moment.
“I would call it gamesmanship, some will call it other things and one set play and all of a sudden, it’s 3-1 and from then on we were okay.”
“For us to come here up against a team that we know how good it is, but for us it was a surprise because we believe we’ve got good players. Our results haven’t followed our performances so we know we are better than where we are right now.”
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