"Don't write us off yet" – that's the defiant message of Oxford United boss Chris Wilder after Saturday's shattering defeat by Torquay.

The U's manager offered a stirring rallying call after his team's 2-0 defeat at the Kassam Stadium left them some way behind the leading pack.

They are nine points behind fourth-placed Stevenage and six points behind fifth-placed Torquay, who have two games in hand.

"Some people may think that's it for us, but I don't and I hope my players don't," Wilder said.

"Don't write us off just yet, there's still a long way to go."

Nevertheless, United's first defeat of 2009, and their first at home since Wilder took charge, was a body blow to their play-off hopes.

And he acknowledged his disappointment at the individual errors which cost United in the second half, as they conceded two goals in five minutes in front of the biggest gate of the season – 5,837.

A quickfire double from substitute Elliot Benyon brought Torquay victory in a fiery game that saw both teams have a player sent off, the Gulls' Roscoe DSane seeing red just before the hour, with Oxford's Craig Nelthorpe dismissed in the first half.

But the most frustrating thing for Wilder was that Paul Buckle's men got their vital breakthrough goal from a corner, despite plenty of warnings.

"It was a disappointing result for us, and a disappointing second half because when we were ten against their 11, we were OK, but individual errors have cost us," he said.

"Chris Carruthers took a bad decision. We talk about set-pieces being a big part of Torquay's play, which is fair enough.

"They've got great delivery from Kevin Nicholson, and good players who go and attack the ball, and we've not concentrated.

"I spent three and a half hours driving down to Torquay on Tuesday night and my main message to my players this week was that we had to be switched on at set-pieces.

"We weren't switched on, go 1-0 down and then the second one's an individual error.

"From then on we change it around to try to get back in the game, but I was disappointed by our lack of belief in the last 10-15 minutes, and our decision-making . . . we played it short when we should have gone long, and played it long when we should go short.

"Torquay have not really had to work tremendously hard to win this game, which is the biggest disappointment for me."

The U's now need to bounce back in their two away games this week, starting at Eastbourne Borough tomorrow night, followed by their short trip to Forest Green on Saturday.

And after losing to Torquay, it's now wins, rather than draws, that they need on the road.