KARL Robinson revealed Oxford United were given extra motivation to beat Portsmouth today after seeing a “disrespectful” tweet on the eve of the game.

Pompey’s official account posted a message which included a video clip from the clash between the sides last season.

It showed Nathan Thompson shouting in Alex Mowatt’s face after the U’s loanee missed a penalty. That led to a fracas which saw Mowatt sent off in the clash at Fratton Park, which Portsmouth won 3-0.

The tweet did not go unnoticed among the U’s players and Robinson felt it had given them extra fire in their bellies ahead of the 2-1 victory.

He said: “Last night their press put a tweet out on their official site of the incident last year.

“Our players were texting me and weren’t happy with that. It’s nothing to do with the footballing staff, but it was a bit disrespectful.

“I think you saw wounded animals out there, not just from the recent results and the criticism we’ve got, but we were also motivated.”

He added: "It was all about them getting excited about the game.

"It was a difficult moment for us, but you’ve got to find a way of winning and we used it as a motivation."

Read again - Match report: Oxford United 2, Portsmouth 1

James Henry, who scored the winner at the Kassam Stadium to take the U’s out of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone, said: “I think if a game like this can’t motivate you then you shouldn’t be playing football.

“(But) obviously that game was a crazy one and we had a point to prove.”

The midfielder, who now has 13 goals for the season, felt the performance should set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

He said: “It probably wasn’t our prettiest performance by any means, but from now until the end of the season we’ve got to perform like that every week.

“We’ve got to put our heads in where we don’t want to put them, make those last-ditch tackles and bury teams.

“In the first half we got two goals and we knew they would come out and fight.

“I thought everyone did well.”