CHEY Dunkley was thrilled to open his Oxford United goalscoring account – even if his muted reaction at Exeter City said otherwise.

The centre back set the U’s on the way to a 4-1 victory in midweek by heading in Alex MacDonald’s eighth-minute centre.

It was Dunkley’s 29th appearance for the club, a long wait for a player with such strength in the air.

But there was barely a reaction from the 24-year-old, to the extent it briefly looked as though the goal had been disallowed.

Dunkley said: “My celebration wasn’t the best, I know that. I don’t really get mad after scoring goals, I think it was the timing of it.

  • Watch Chey Dunkley's reaction to scoring on Tuesday, via Oxford United's official Youtube channel

“If I had scored in the last minute the emotions are a bit different, but because it was early I just wanted to concentrate.

“Every time I’m in the team, I just try to concentrate because it’s about getting the result.

“It was so early I thought ‘don’t get too high’, even Mulls (Johnny Mullins) was saying about getting back to basics.”

He added: “I want to score goals – it’s a part of my game and I think I should be scoring goals with my athleticism in the air.

“Hopefully I do get a few more and add to the tally, but the main thing is get performances and clean sheets.”

Dunkley’s goal was one of three headers from corners in the win at Exeter, which is an area of the game United have been keen to improve.

The defender said: “The coaching staff have been on our backs about goals from set pieces.

“We’ve had opportunities to score (in other games), but it just fell for us on the day.”