KARL Robinson knows what Oxford United could have done differently to improve their play-off push – but would not be drawn on sharing it publicly.

A 2-1 defeat at Rotherham United ended the club’s hopes of a top-six finish with one game of the Sky Bet League One season remaining.

Robinson was asked to pinpoint one thing he or United could have done better, but the head coach declined to go into specifics.

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He said: “People know what that is. I have complete clarity on that, but I don’t think that’s something that is to be spoken about.

“It’s no-one’s fault in some ways, I just feel certain things happened that were out of our control this year.

“There’s no-one to blame, but there were key moments I wish had fallen in our favour - not just on the pitch, that’s off the pitch.

"I’ll keep my counsel on that.”

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The U’s miss out on a third consecutive play-off campaign despite beating last season’s points tally with two games to go.

They could end the campaign on 78 points but only eighth in the table, thanks to a highly-competitive League One promotion race.

Robinson reckons the U’s have progressed from last season and pointed to certain aspects of their performance.

WATCH: Highlights of yesterday's game

He said: “Take away not getting into the play-offs, if you take it in context I think it’s been a better season.

“We’ve got a better points haul against the teams in the top six or seven than we had last year, our game management’s better than last year.

“I think in a lot of aspects of our game we’re better.

“The points tally says that, but unfortunately there are a lot of very good teams that have been so aggressive.

“That’s the bit we find difficult to take.”

In 2020/21, United took just eight points from 14 games against the rest of the top eight but they have doubled that tally this time around.