JUSTIN Merritt revealed his return to the Oxford City dugout was a surreal experience.

The club’s owner and director helped fill the gaps on the bench after manager David Oldfield and three members of first-team staff were forced to miss the defeat to Dorking Wanderers as they waited for the results of PCR tests.

Merritt, who was City boss from 2014 to 2016, was joined by head of analysis Martin Wilkinson and Velocity football head coach Lauren Haynes.

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Oldfield and coaches Ross Jenkins, Andy Ballard and Alan Foster watched from home and were in constant communication with the dugout during the 4-2 loss.

It was City’s first defeat since September 4 and means they are only top of Vanarama National League South on goals scored.

Merritt said: “It was a tough day and quite a bizarre one as well.

“We had the game streamed to all the coaching staff so we were getting constant feedback – you’re half watching the game and half waiting for instructions.”

Oldfield spoke to players and staff in the dressing room as City tried to make the best of a strange situation.

Merritt added: “We all gathered round, he was on loudspeaker before the game for a minute or so, half-time and at the end.

“David thanked the players for their efforts and how good they’ve been so far, just reiterating that if we do the right things more we’re going to get positive results.

“He had an input all the way through and it was interesting for us to be part of.

“If we’d got a result out of it, it would be one we’d talk about for a long time.”

City were up against a strong Dorking side, who were last season’s runaway leaders before proceedings were cancelled in February.

Alfie Rutherford and James McShane gave the visitors a 2-0 lead after 21 minutes, before Joe Iaciofano pulled a goal back from the penalty spot.

Rutherford and Josh Ashby were on target either side of half-time, but Harvey Bradbury’s red card for a late lunge midway through the second period was a huge blow.

City were forced to take risks as they looked for an equaliser, allowing Rutherford to complete his hat-trick on the break in the closing stages.

“We did the best we could to get the fixture on and ultimately in the first half we weren’t good enough,” Merritt added.

“There were some fundamental errors on the goals, you can’t afford to make mistakes like that.

“In the second half we got up a bit of a head of steam and the sending-off changes it again, we’re trying to get players to press and attack and you’re leaving gaps everywhere.”

Haynes added: “You take the mistakes out of it and the scoreline doesn’t reflect how the game was played.

“When we were on top the patterns of play were really positive, it’s just a shame it wasn’t consistent.”