KARL Robinson reflected on Oxford United’s third frustrating defeat in a week as their play-off hopes took another hit against Sunderland.

Elliot Embleton’s 89th-minute winner gave the Black Cats a 2-1 win at a sold-out Kassam Stadium to leave the U’s four points off the top six.

United were on top for large parts of the game and Elliott Moore cancelled out Corry Evans’ strike in the first half, but they could not produce the result to reflect their performance.

Read the match report here

It was a similar story at Plymouth Argyle last Saturday and against Morecambe on Tuesday in a damaging seven days for the U’s play-off dream.

Sunderland, meanwhile, move four points clear of United and into the top six.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow, my players are devastated in there,” U’s head coach Robinson said.

“In the last three games, even the harshest critics would say we deserved a lot more than what we sit here on.

“If you’re being totally critical, if our decision-making in the final third had been a bit better with a bit more quality I don’t think we’d be sat here so down.

“I don’t think there were many times Sunderland, who have had a free week and been on a wonderful run, put us under complete pressure.

“I felt we had complete control of the game.

“The stupid thing is we switched off and got hurt in an area that we spoke about, and that’s the frustrating thing for me.

“It just seems to be the week that we’re having.”

It is the first time United have suffered three successive league defeats since August 2019.

The clash with a promotion rival attracted the Kassam Stadium’s first sold-out league crowd since Boxing Day 2016, but the U's support went home disappointed.

Robinson said: “They saw the performance and not the result. That’s the bit that hurts.”

The U’s boss added that Cameron Brannagan ‘should be okay’ after feeling a twinge in his knee in the second half, with the midfielder receiving treatment before carrying on.