JOSH Ruffels was delighted to see Oxford United earn victory the hard way at Plymouth Argyle.

The left back’s first-half equaliser turned the tide of a game the U’s eventually won 3-2, with Sam Long and Mide Shodipo also on the scoresheet after the break.

It means United head into 2021 on a seven-match unbeaten run and six points above the Sky Bet League One relegation zone.

Read the match report here

For much of the first half that looked unlikely, with Argyle bossing the early stages and going ahead through Panutche Camara.

They even threatened to snatch a point when Luke Jephcott scored an 84th-minute penalty – 120 seconds after Shodipo had scored from the spot.

But the U’s showed more of the resilience that has characterised their recent good form and Ruffels was proud of a hard-fought triumph.

“We never really make it easy,” the 27-year-old said.

“It’s big to come all this way and get the three points.

“They’re a really good side, so we’re really pleased.

“We could easily have crumbled. They were on top for quite a while, so we had to see it out.

“I thought we turned it around really well and we looked really dangerous from set-pieces.”

While Ruffels’ 37th-minute strike was United’s first effort of the night, the visitors looked more likely to score than Argyle after the break.

The defender added: “We’ve kept ourselves fit and in the second half we really pushed on.

“We didn’t really give them a sniff, except for the penalty.

“We kept the hammer down and got our reward.”

While United had three home games with fans in earlier this month before coronavirus restrictions tightened, it was their first match in front of opposition supporters since March.

Ruffels felt this boosted the U’s after they got back on level terms.

He said: “It worked in our favour.

“When you’re in the lead they can get on top of their players, so it was perfect for us.”

U’s head coach Karl Robinson felt his side kept their opponents at arm’s length after weathering the early storm, which signalled a switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1.

He said: “It was a really pleasing all-round performance.

“I thought out of possession we got it spot on after 20 minutes – I thought we really limited their chances.”