JOE Riley said no-one at Oxford United would be critical of Danny Hylton after the top scorer wasted several good chances in the goalless draw with Stevenage.

The forward has scored more than half of the side's goals this season, but his rich vein of form deserted him on Saturday.

Several opportunities to grab his eighth goal of the season were squandered, which proved costly as United drew a blank.

But Riley felt, particularly after the 25-year-old's superb start to the season, that Hylton could not be blamed for United's failure to turn a dominant performance into three points.

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He said: "At times someone else has got to come up with the goals, we can't always rely on Hylts.

"But on another day he will put them in the back of the net and we will win the game."

While up front United fell just short, at the other end of the pitch the defence could at least reflect on a first clean sheet of the season.

Stevenage were on the back foot to such an extent they mustered a solitary effort on target.

Goalkeeper George Long felt the back four deserved plenty of praise and admitted his biggest worry was in losing concentration.

He said: "All credit to the defence, they kept the danger away and cleared any chances they had.

"We played in their half for the majority of the game, but as a goalkeeper you've got to stay switched on because there's always a chance they might break away and have a shot on goal.

"The main thing for me was to keep talking to my defence and keep communicating.

"That keeps me switched on, so if there is a chance I'm ready for it."

Although the result was not what United's display merited, it extended their unbeaten sequence to five games.

Riley said: "We wanted a few more wins in that time, but we are turning it into a run now.

"Performance-wise we have done well throughout the season, but it's about putting that into results now.

"The crowd had a massive impact in it.

"I think they're starting to see what we're really about now and are taking to it.

"I think we are all pulling in the right direction and we will start winning games."

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