Oxford United boss Jim Smith gave his backing to striker Rob Duffy despite the Welshman fluffing an injury-time chance at Stevenage last night.

Had he put it away, it would have taken the U's to the top of the Blue Square Premier.

But Oxford had to settle in the end for a hard-earned point from a battling display in an action-packed goalless draw.

Smith said: "I haven't always been happy with his workrate, but he came on and won every header and worked tremendously hard.

"He did everything you could ask from him, apart from getting a goal."

Duffy came off the bench to replace Gary Twigg after the Scottish striker, and United's three-goal leading scorer this season, injured his ankle. He looks certain to miss United's next three games, but Smith believes it's not a major injury.

He said: "The physio thinks, and of course you can't be exactly sure at this stage, but he thinks it's ankle ligaments, but not too serious, at least two weeks out rather than six."

Stevenage and Oxford showed in the quality of their football that they are both likely to finish near the top of the table at the end of the season.

Smith said: "For television I thought it was a great game. Overall, I would imagine it was an excellent game to watch at this level. Some good football and some unbelievable honesty from everybody.

"We knew it was going to be a hard game and Stevenage set off extremely well and gave us a lot of problems, but we defended extremely well.

"We built on that and in the second half I thought we were the better team. Whether we deserved it or we didn't, we had the chances to have won the game.

"You've got to score them really, but they also had a couple of chances where they probably thought they should have scored.

"It was a good point tonight, because they're a good side."

Keeper Billy Turley pulled off three excellent saves and celebrated winning the man-of-the-match champagne by milking the fans' applause after the final whistle.

Smith, though, said Michael Corcoran would have been his man-of-the-match.