OXFORD United Women have lost ground in the hunt for the league title.

U’s rivals Ipswich Town and Southampton took advantage of United’s postponed fixture against Bridgwater United by both winning 2-0 in National League Southern Premier.

League leaders Ipswich won at home to Plymouth Argyle, while Southampton leapfrogged United into second by winning at Gillingham.

However, Lauren Haynes says United have adjusted well from being underdogs to chasing for the title.

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The U’s captain said: “If you look at the start of the season, people probably looked at it and thought Ipswich and Southampton straight off the bat. We weren’t really in anyone’s minds.

“Ipswich and Southampton both got off to good starts, we dropped a couple of points early doors and no-one really saw us as a real threat, so we didn’t have to deal with the pressure of being chased until a few weeks ago when we took top of the league.

“There is a slight change in the mentality there, and I think you can tell that within the players because we’ve gone from an underdog team to then being seen as a threat.

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on still, we’re not the finished product.”