MICHAEL Appleton rued the type of goals Oxford United conceded against Middlesbrough as they came so close to an Emirates FA Cup upset.

The Premier League side played some high-quality football, particularly in the first half.

But their goals came from a penalty, followed by finishes from two crosses – the last of which in the 86th minute sent Boro through 3-2.

Appleton was encouraged by the way his side came from 2-0 down to level after the break, but the soft goals grated on him.

The head coach said: “I’d expect us to deal with that situation a little bit better.

“From my point of view I am proud of them, of course I am, but that goes as standard.

“I don’t like losing games and when you get yourself into the position we did, the way we conceded irritates me more than anything.”

The thought of Middlesbrough running the clock down and waiting for the final whistle looked distinctly unlikely after the opening 45 minutes.

United did have a legitimate goal from Chris Maguire ruled out, but they had struggled to impose themselves.

Appleton put it down to players not following the pre-match instructions.

He said: “We had a game plan and that’s why we played two strikers.

“We felt we could get down the side of their centre halves and we decided to start playing down the middle.

“We had shown them four different games where the opposition tried to do that and ended up getting caught.

“That’s disappointing. They have to trust the information they are given from the staff and try to take it on board.

“It showed in the second half it’s possible.

“Hopefully if we come into this scenario again they will take it on board and really believe there’s a chance to come to a Premier League side and win the game.”