Chris Wilder admitted after Tuesday night’s hugely disappointing home defeat by Stevenage that it’s heads or tails whether he gets a good performance from his team or a bad one.

“I’m annoyed with my team,” he said after the 2-1 defeat, which dealt a big blow to the U’s hopes of reaching the play-offs.

“It just shows the inconsistencies of my team and why we will probably not be involved at the end of the season.

“There is no consistency, individually or as a team from game to game.

“Excellent last Saturday, really poor tonight. And then most probably, when next Saturday comes around, we’ll be decent again.

“I’m tossing a coin up at the moment.”

It was such a contrast to the super showing at Port Vale last weekend as largely the same players stumbled and stuttered.

Defensively, they gave away two bad goals, the first an own goal by Harry Worley after Stevenage striker Darius Charles was left unmarked six yards out, and the second when their back line got it wrong trying to play offside, and Craig Reid ran through to score an easy winner.

Wilder said: “It was disappointing from start to finish. Everything about our game was really poor.

“I take no positives out of tonight at all. I’ve not enjoyed the game one bit.”

The lack of consistency looks like costing Oxford. This was an eighth home defeat in League Two this season, and few teams go up with that record.

Individuals who took their chance at Vale Park palpably didn’t when given another opportunity last night.

But there were very few good performances, from any in a yellow shirt.

Wilder added: “I was particularly disappointed with the last ten minutes because I thought we went out the back door, and made it far too easy for the opposition to go and win the game.

“We didn’t deserve to win.”