LIAM Manning believes his Oxford United side’s point at home to Portsmouth represented the best 90 minutes since he took charge.

The former MK Dons boss has also overseen draws against Morecambe, Peterborough United, Sheffield Wednesday and Port Vale, plus the defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The U’s have provided stern opposition in most of those games and in some cases, were unlucky not to take more from them.

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Against Pompey last night, United banged on the door with 21 shots, however only four of those were on target.

Manning said: “I thought it was a terrific response from the weekend.

“For 90 minutes, I thought everything was there bar the finish.

“The intensity we showed at the start and the organisation, the way we pressed, the way we won first contacts and second balls – there were so many positive aspects.

“Ultimately if you don’t have quality to finish it, you don’t deserve more but the rest of it is probably the most important bit.

“It’s the best 90 minutes we’ve had and we need to make sure that’s the bare minimum now and the benchmark for the final four games.

“I’m sure if we do that again, we’ll win games.”

He added: “I can’t fault the effort tonight whereas I could at the weekend.

“Every single individual but more importantly as a collective, the behaviours were correct in terms of their intensity we expect.”

Manning decided to stick with the players chosen in the starting line-up for the majority of the second half, with Yanic Wildschut introduced in the 76th minute.

Djavan Anderson and Billy Bodin then came on seven minutes later.

On his use of substitutes, Manning said: “I think it’s a feeling in-game. You’ve got the five but at the same time, sometimes when you make that many it kills the momentum a little bit and disrupts the rhythm.

“I thought in the second half, we were on top for most of the half so it’s a case of try and sustain that momentum.

“We still looked dangerous from the start to the end of the half.

“Yanic and Billy coming on had a positive impact, Djavan as well had a really positive impact and got into some dangerous areas.

“Billy had a terrific opportunity himself. He’s a little bit disappointed having been out for a while.

“I’m sure with games coming, when he gets up to speed, he’ll take that chance.”

Manning also praised the home crowd, saying: “There was a good noise and good atmosphere. Fans know when people are working as hard as they can.

“You saw that tonight, the players left it all out there.

“People pay hard-earned money to come and watch and that’s the bare minimum they can expect, and the players did a good job of that tonight and the fans did a terrific job in supporting the players.”