THE wounds of Oxford United’s loss to Southend United on Saturday will take some time to heal, according to head coach Michael Appleton.

A poor run of results was extended with a 3-2 defeat at the Kassam Stadium, despite the visitors playing for almost an hour with ten men.

It was made worse by the fact the U’s had established a 2-1 lead at half-time, only to falter after the break.

The circumstances led Appleton to believe the setback would linger with the players.

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He said: “I think it will and it should do – I said that to the players.

“It’s a disappointing day and a game we let get away from us.

“It was summed up when Johnny Mullins goes through in the 95th minute and you think ‘OK, we’ll take a point and move forward’.

“The keeper had a good day, but I think the disappointing thing for me is we’re not dealing with crosses into our box.

“We can’t allow that – firstly can we stop it, but more importantly we have to do better when the ball comes into the box.”

The defeat, United’s sixth at home this season, saw them slide to three points of the relegation zone.

Appleton insisted the focus was only on finding a way to turn the form around, when asked if he was feeling added pressure.

He said: “When you lose a game of football the heat is on you, no matter what level you’re at.

“It doesn’t really concern me from that point of view.

“The only way you can change people’s thoughts and the way they do things is by trying to win games and staying positive.

“There’s no point feeling sorry for yourself and going ‘we should be doing this or that’.”

While it was an afternoon of few plus points, the Appleton highlighted the performances of youngsters Callum O’Dowda and Sam Long, who both scored.

He said: “They are going to be the future of Oxford, so for them to go into difficult situations like they are at the minute and come out doing well (is encouraging).

“Some of the senior players need to do the same thing.

“There will be a lot of questions asked in their own minds over the weekend and I’ve asked a few after the game.

“Hopefully they come up with the right answers next week.”

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