CHRIS Wilder was disappointed to see Oxford United concede a late goal, but was otherwise pleased with the 1-1 draw at Alloa Athletic.

Deane Smalley scored for the second successive game to give the visitors a seventh-minute lead in their first Scotland tour match.

The advantage lasted until the final minute of normal time, when Alloa levelled through Eddie Ferns.

Wilder felt it took the edge off what was a solid night for the U’s, who were boosted by five players getting through the full 90 minutes.

The United manager said: “I was a touch disappointed to concede a goal as late as we did, but the shape of the team was good.

“The opposition are a decent side – they’ve had a couple of promotions under their belt.

“We wanted to test ourselves. They had a lot of the ball and a lot of was in front of us, but the players will have got a lot out of it.”

He added: “We had to concentrate, be patient and disciplined.

“We did that right up to the 90th minute, but as I said to the players afterwards, if we’re going to get into a bit of confusion with our decision-making, hopefully we get that out of the way early on.”

Danny Rose played from start to finish, along with Alfie Potter, Jake Wright, Michael Raynes and goalkeeper Ryan Clarke.

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  • Danny Rose speaking after the draw with Alloa

Midfielder Rose was delighted to get through a whole game in only the second fixture of pre-season.

Alloa, who were confident in possession on their artificial pitch, provided a good challenge for their visitors, but Rose thought it would be beneficial in the long run.

He said: “They had more of the ball, but it was a good exercise for us.

“I think we’d rather that hard work was in the bank than it be an easy game where you don’t really make any progress.

“I was more than happy to stay on, because I was delighted to get 90 minutes in the bank. I felt quite good out there.”