Andy Whing says Saturday’s defeat against Crewe was a real wake-up call to United’s players that they need to stay on the ball for 90 minutes.

A terrific first-half display was followed by a lacklustre second 45 minutes – which ended with the visitors grabbing an 89th-minute winner.

And Whing says that frustration and patience were the words that sprang to mind to sum up the display.

“We have gone over the DVD this week and some of the stuff in the first half was great, without scoring the goal which is why we maybe got a bit frustrated,” he said.

“We then tried to force things, lost a bit of patience and we have gone for it and they have nicked one on the counter-attack.”

Whing added: “As a player you do ask yourself ‘is this going to be our day’ when you play well but can’t get the goal.

“But you are not going to win the game if you do not keep doing those things.

“You win a game over 90 minutes, not the first 25-30 minutes.

“We know what we have done wrong and we’ve been working on putting that right.”

The return of Michael Duberry to the back line has seen Whing revert to the holding midfield role.

And he says that his job is to break up play and give United’s attacking players the platform to do their stuff.

“I do get on the ball a bit more at home, but there are five or six players ahead of me who have the more attacking ability,” he said.

“For me it’s getting them in the game as much as possible.

“They can hurt the opposition more than me, so my job is to break things up and give them the ball.

“My position allows our full backs to push on because you have got me there as a bit of insurance to get across and fill in the holes when they attack.”

And Whing almost got on the scoresheet for the first time with a volley that whistled over the bar as the U’s attacked the Oxford Mail stand.

“I caught it too well,” he explained. “If I had shanked it, it might have ended up in.”