MICHAEL Appleton was upbeat about Oxford United’s performance in the 2-2 draw at Port Vale, which he thought merited all three points.

The visitors produced an excellent display in the first half and got their reward through goals from Chey Dunkley and Dan Crowley.

But the good work was undone in the space of five minutes after the break, when Vale profited from set pieces.

Despite the result, Appleton was encouraged by the number of chances his side created against a side who began the day in the Sky Bet League One play-off places.

He said: “I’m obviously frustrated and disappointed, but performance-wise it was up there.

“If you put the ball in the box you’ve got an opportunity to score – they did it twice and they’ve got a point out of the game, which they didn’t deserve.

“From my point of view it’s another team we’ve played where I’m thinking to myself ‘are they better than us?’ “The answer is ‘probably not’, but we’ve got to improve as a group.

“I think we’ll get stronger mentally, but there were some good signs.”

Appleton tends to keep a settled side, but he made five changes in response to the midweek loss at Coventry City.

It included a recall for Curtis Nelson after two months out with a foot injury at the expense of Charlie Raglan, who had been in good form.

The U’s boss said: “Just knowing how physical we thought Port Vale might be up top, I thought it would suit Nelse down to the ground.

“I think the game will do him the world of good anyway.

“He’s been out for two months now and he is a leader.

“The boy up front for them (Rigino Cicilia) did really well and made it difficult for him and Chey (Dunkley) at times.

“It was a difficult game for him to come back into, but I thought he handled it reasonably well.”