MALCOLM Shotton said he was proud of his Oxford United players for wrecking Bradford's promotion party on Saturday - even though they now need a miracle to stay in Division 1.

It was one of the most spirited performances of United's season as they held an in-form Bradford team, needing only to win their last two games to reach the Premiership for the first time, to a 0-0 draw.

Oxford really had to win to have any hope of avoiding the drop and they nearly did it as they created the game's best chances with Joey Beauchamp volleying the best of them over the bar from eight yards with 20 minutes to go.

Yet defeats for QPR and Bury mean United can still escape relegation on the final day of the season this Sunday - though it will require a highly improbable combination of results.

To stay up they must hope QPR, at home to Crystal Palace, and Bury, at home to Port Vale, both lose while they win against Stockport at the Manor Ground. Not only that, but United must score four goals more than QPR manage.

Shotton accepted the chances were slim, but said that, after the season they've had, he was just relieved Oxford still had a football club.

"It's looking like we need a miracle but it's been looking like that all season," he said. "We had the three best chances. That's been the story of our season . . . we've struggled to score.

"Last season Joey was banging them in. For some reason this year we're missing chance after chance.

"But I'm very proud of the players. They worked hard, created chances and defended in numbers."

To stand any chance of staying up, the U's will have to chalk up their biggest victory of the season in the final game against Stockport on Sunday and it's a lot to expect QPR and Bury to lose at home to opponents who have nothing to play for.

"Just to score four goals is going to be hard," admitted Shotton, "and then we've got to rely on other people as well to complete the miracle. Yet we've still got a lifeline. Nobody's conceded anything yet. "The players were very down in the dressing room afterwards game because they thought that was it, but when they heard the other results it lifted them a bit."

On another afternoon when United were defensively excellent, Phil Gilchrist and Mark Watson hardly gave former United striker Dean Windass a sniff of goal.

"Dean didn't case us a problem," Shotton said. "I think he was a fool to himself with some of the comments he made. Sometimes it backfires, it just winds people up.

"Dean's not my problem any more, Oxford United's my problem."

Story date: Monday 03 May

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