Michael Appleton admitted Oxford United had fallen short of what was expected as they lost 1-0 at Woking in pre-season.

The home side created the majority of the game’s chances, while United lacked a cutting edge for most of the evening.

Ryan Taylor came closest to finding a way through, but his header just after the break was well saved by Jake Cole, before John Goddard headed the only goal of the game.

Appleton did not want to just shrug the display off as pre-season rustiness, and instead felt the game showed areas which needed attention.

The U’s head coach said: “At the minute I think we look fit, but we don’t look sharp, certainly in the final third.

“The amount of times we made poor decisions 30 yards from goal was disappointing.

“That’s something we can work on and improve.

“Some of our most attacking players really lacked a bit of invention at times.”

He added: “They worked a lot harder to stop us playing than we did to stop them.

“I don’t think we could really fault the players too much in the last 15 games of last season, so the players got a reminder of that.

“I told them in no uncertain terms that’s the big thing we need to improve on.

“It’s not about the result, it’s how you go about it and I just felt we fell short. The players know that, they’re disappointed.”

One objective which was achieved was the number of outfield players competing 90 minutes for the first time in pre-season.

Eight of the ten who started the game finished what was a decent contest.

A silver lining to Woking having the better of the game was it provided an opportunity for Sam Slocombe to impress.

The goalkeeper did just that, making several smart stops.

Appleton said: “I’ve been delighted with Sam since he’s come in.

“He’s not had much to do in the games until this one, but I’ve seen it in training every day.

“I saw more of him in the game than I’d want, but that’s what he’s there to do.”