MICHAEL Appleton was delighted with the way Oxford United went for the jugular against Chesterfield – even though the head coach was not completely satisfied with a 4-0 victory.

Conor McAleny’s hat-trick followed Rob Hall’s opening goal as the U’s steamrollered a Spireites side who looked doomed to relegation on this evidence.

The visitors led 2-0 at the break and Appleton urged his players to keep the hammer down.

McAleny scored twice more, but it was no exaggeration given the number of openings they created in the closing stages that the 4-0 scoreline thoroughly flattered the hosts.

Appleton said: “My message at half-time was ‘let’s not be happy with 2-0’.

“You can’t afford to feel sorry for teams and you can’t take your foot off the gas. They never did that.

“If anything I can be over-critical and say we weren’t ruthless enough, but it’s difficult to say that after a 4-0 win.”

The victory, United’s sixth in eight league games since the turn of the year, trimmed the gap to the play-offs to four points.

Appleton said: “The only pressure is on the people above us and we’ve just got to keep applying it.

“We’ve got 14 games left and we need at least eight wins.

“It’s still a big ask because of the amount of games we’ve got in March, but if we keep the players fit they are capable of it.”

As in the midweek victory at Charlton Athletic, the XI was shuffled and United left three key players on the bench.

Appleton put it down to having a trio cup-tied for Wednesday night’s Checkatrade Trophy semi-final at Luton Town, but it was also done with a view to keeping players fresh for next month – when they have eight fixtures.

He said: “We knew we had to freshen things up and couldn’t afford injuries.

“The fact that Lunny (John Lundstram), Ryan Ledson and Marvin Johnson got a day off will do them the world of good from an energy point of view.”

The one sour note was the sight of Rob Hall limping off with a hamstring problem.

United hope it was just tightness, but should know more today.