PAUL Tait was told he's got to act more responsibly after he was sent off for retaliation near the end of Oxford United's 2-0 Worthington Cup defeat at Tranmere last night.

The midfielder saw red for the first time in his Oxford career after kicking out at Rovers' Alan Mahon, with the third-round tie already effectively lost.

And it means midfielder Tait - who had only just returned to the side following a hip injury - now faces the prospect of a three-game ban, just as Peter Fear did at the start of the season.

"Paul Tait's sending-off was frustration. He was frustrated to the hilt," said assistant manager Mark Harrison. "He responded wrongly and he's got to have a cooler head than that.

"He's absolutely shot to bits. He's made a serious mistake and it's cost him. It's a disaster for us and a disaster for him."

There was to be no cup of cheer from the competition which has provided Oxford United with many of their greatest moments.

It was an unmitigated disaster as the side which had won so gloriously at Everton in the previous round crashed to the first division's bottom club. No-one had to look far for the three villains of the piece.

Matt Murphy missed a penalty when it was 0-0

Recalled goalkeeper Andre Arendse let a shot slip through his fingers for Tranmere's clinching second goal

Tait's dismissal completed a wretched night.

Harrison had sympathy for South African Arendse, who made a string of good saves besides his Massimo Taibi-type blunder, but hit out at what he felt was a lack of effort from some of United's players.

"You can't be too harsh on Andre," he said straight after the match. "He was outstanding tonight in all departments - but he made the one mistake and it's cost him."

Harrison added: "I still think we've got the ability to come good, but we've got to start working hard and earning the right to play.

"Unless we're prepared to roll up our sleeves and go and battle teams, we're not going to do it and, unfortunately, at the moment, we just think we can go out there and it's the up for us. "We've got to go out and start to make things happen - and the sooner we do it the better."

Tranmere boss John Aldridge said: "I was upset at half-time because we'd defended very well and then backed off and lost concentration for their penalty. Whether it was a penalty or not is debatable, but I wasn't happy and I told the ref so.

"My young goalkeepoer Joe Murphy got us out of trouble with the penalty save because if Oxford had gone ahead, it might have been a very different game."

Story date: Wednesday 13 October

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