MICHAEL Appleton admitted it has been refreshing to see teams come to the Kassam Stadium with an attacking mindset this season.

Oxford United shared the points with Charlton Athletic in a 1-1 draw where both sides played attractive football.

It is in contrast to the vast majority of games last season, where the visitors would typically set their stall out to frustrate.

Appleton, United’s head coach, said: “It was a really good game with two teams having a right go at each other.

“Last year we had so many teams who parked the bus.

“I mean this in the greatest respect to us, but we’re not the biggest club in this division, far from it, whereas last season we were in the top three or four.

“Hopefully after 20 games people will realise we want to have a right go and be competitive in every game and hopefully results like this will prove that.”

United carried far more of a cutting edge once Kane Hemmings replaced Ryan Taylor up front on the hour mark.

Appleton explained the decision to start Taylor had been influenced by the belief Charlton would play Jason Pearce, but the centre half missed out with a head injury.

He said: “Having worked with him (at Portsmouth) I know he likes to drop off and let people receive it in front of him.

“That was the idea of playing Ryan up top.

“Kane’s had a couple of niggles, but he’s trained really well the last couple of days.

“I said to him ‘make it really difficult for me not to play you’. He’s certainly done that.”