OXFORD United's winning run against AFC Wimbledon came to an end as they played out a goalless draw at the Kassam Stadium.

There was little surprise about the stalemate on an afternoon when neither goalkeeper was especially stretched.

It meant United's perfect eight wins out of eight meetings with the Dons was halted, but they will be more concerned about a hamstring injury to James Roberts, who limped off in the second half.

Michael Appleton stuck with the same side which began the 1-0 win at York City a week earlier.

The one change came on the bench, where new signing Chey Dunkley replaced Michael Raynes.

United controlled the early stages, but a flurry of early corners failed to yield an effort on James Shea's goal.

Instead, Wimbledon had the first real chance thanks to a clever free-kick routine on ten minutes.

The set piece was passed into Adebayo Akinfenwa, who played in strike partner Matt Tubbs. He did not get hold of the shot, but it troubled Ryan Clarke enough to see the goalkeeper turn it awkwardly round the post.

From the corner Ade Azeez headed on to the roof of the net.

It turned out to be a rare spell of goalmouth action at either end in a drab first half.

Wimbledon were happy to allow United to have the ball at the back, only pressing when they got near the halfway line.

It saw the hosts enjoy plenty of possession, but they had difficulty engineering any chances.

Wimbledon's back four rarely looked troubled, as the vast majority of play was all in front of them.

It took 25 minutes for any kind of effort on goal, when a Brian Howard free-kick was met by James Roberts, whose header was deflected over.

The home crowd had to wait another quarter of an hour to see Shea forced into action, saving from Alfie Potter after good work from Danny Rose and Tareiq Holmes-Dennis.

Half-time instructions had no noticeable impact on the game when it restarted, with neither side able to build up any momentum.

At one end a delightful ball from Andy Whing saw Danny Hylton spring the offside trap before shooting wide, while at the other Akinfenwa shot wide from range.

Appleton must have been thinking about freshening his side up as the hour approached, but the decision was taken out of his hands.

Roberts chased forward to collect a pass from Alfie Potter, but went down clutching his hamstring after stretching to keep the ball in play.

It was a huge blow for the teenager, who had scored three goals in the previous two games to announce himself in the professional game.

Tyrone Barnett came on in place of Roberts and quickly got into the game.

Dropping deep to collect the ball, he sprayed a pass wide to Joe Riley. The full back's cross picked out Hylton, whose shot was just too high.

With the next attack Barnett was getting ready to power in a header from an inviting Danny Rose cross, only for Adam Barrett to get there first and concede a corner.

It turned out to be United's best spell of the game.

They looked the more likely to pinch a winner in the closing stages, without carving out a golden chance.

Potter came closest as the game drifted into stoppage time, but his shot lacked power and Shea gathered with Barnett prowling for a rebound.

With it went the final hope of a breakthrough, as many United fans took it as their cue for an early exit.

Oxford Utd: Clarke, Riley, Mullins, Wright, Holmes-Dennis, Hylton, Whing, Rose, Potter, Howard (O'Dowda 71), Roberts (Barnett 60).

Unused subs: Crocombe, Meades, Ruffels, Collins, Dunkley.

Wimbledon: Shea, Fuller, Barrett, Bennett, Smith, Sutherland (Francomb 74), Moore, Bulman, Azeez (Oakley 83), Akinfenwa, Tubbs.

Unused subs: Worner, Kennedy, Nicholson, Beere, Sweeney.

Referee: Trevor Kettle (Leicestershire).

Attendance: 5,443 (520 visitors).