OXFORD United have to be their own harshest critics if they want to achieve anything this season, believes skipper John Mousinho.

Joe Mason struck the only goal of the game as Milton Keynes Dons came out on top in a forgettable clash at Stadium MK.

It was United’s first defeat in 98 days, but their 18-game unbeaten run faded with a whimper on an afternoon where the visitors created very little.

Despite the excellent spell, which included 11 games in Sky Bet League One, defeat left Karl Robinson’s men eighth in the table.

And Mousinho, who had no complaints over the result, urged everyone in the squad to maintain the highest possible standards.

He said: “We never really got to grips with the game and reflecting honestly I think we didn’t really deserve to come away with anything.

“Whoever plays has to perform at a better level than that.

“We’re being very harsh because we’ve been on such a good run, but I think if we want to have any success and do anything this season then we have to be very self-critical.

“It’s that tight up at the top that one bad weekend of results can really damage you.

“If you want to be a mid-table side we can go on runs and lose the odd game, but at the minute every game is a must-win game if we want to do anything with the season.”

He added: “If we finish tenth then there’s no point in saying ‘didn’t we have a great run between September and December?’”

The below-par performance came four days before the highly-anticipated Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester City at the Kassam Stadium.

But Mousinho rejected the suggestion it had been a factor in the display.

He said: “I genuinely didn’t think it was.

“You could ask all the players and they would say no.

“It might have been in the back of players’ minds but I don’t think that really reflected in the performance.

“I don’t think the problem was they were concerned about getting injured.

“Certainly if anyone wanted a place in the side for the City game then they didn’t necessarily earn it.

“I spoke to a couple of the senior pros about it on Thursday and Friday.

“We didn’t get the feeling so we didn’t feel we needed to address it.

“It was just a pretty poor performance in isolation.”