MIKE Williamson felt Oxford United were naïve in their approach during a disastrous first half at Blackpool which led to a 3-1 defeat.

The Tangerines were 2-0 up through Kyle Vassell and Callum Cooke’s strikes from outside the box in the opening 16 minutes.

United looked ragged all over the pitch and were extremely fortunate only to concede twice.

A change of formation evened up the contest in the second half, but although James Henry pulled a goal back late on, ex-U’s striker Vassell quickly doubled his haul to secure the points.

United were unrecognisable from the side which had shown a swagger in the 2-2 draw with Bradford City just four days earlier.

Williamson offered no excuses for the Jekyll and Hyde displays, but believed it was a reminder the side needed to dig in at times.

He said: “Our start was a bit lethargic and naïve, coming to a place like this where they are very strong.

“They were very good and we were not very good. That was the gulf.

“As a group I think (we have) to learn that you need to earn the right to play.

“Especially when you’re away from home, you need to nullify any space and make sure collectively that we’re up and down together.

“From the lethargic start it put us on the back foot and we struggled to recover from that.

“I’ve had it many times where we’ve been fantastic on the floor and then we think the next game we can just continue in the same vein.

“You still have to win the battle and do the nitty-gritty – that will never change in football.

“Every game is a clean slate and you need to identify what got us into the position to play good football.

“I think possibly that was a bit of the naïve part of us today.”