THE main positive of Oxford United’s defeat to MK Dons is that it was their last game for a fortnight.

The chance to take a step back, reflect on the season so far and get players fit ahead of an ominous October cannot come a moment too soon for the U’s.

Karl Robinson warned us before the game that United’s fluidity would be ‘parked’ as they prioritised three points, but the football has not exactly been free-flowing this term.

READ MORE: Oxford United boss questioned on formation after MK Dons defeat

The injuries have contributed to that, whether you see it as an excuse or not, yet it is still hard to believe how dramatically the style has shifted from last season.

It was alarming to see how different this game was to MK Dons’ previous visit to the Kassam Stadium, just five months ago.

The visitors were third in the table, full of confidence and ran rings around United for 45 minutes that night.

The U's received a half-time rollicking from Robinson - as the Moment of Truth podcast revealed - and they returned a different animal, producing the sort of relentless display we saw many times last season.

United's starting line-up contained three survivors from that evening, while MK had five.

Fast forward five months and we saw two teams lacking the confidence or quality to grab the game by the scruff of the neck – something that was painfully clear in a first half an hour where neither goalkeeper was tested.

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It does not need repeating that United will not threaten down the left in a 3-5-2 if Ciaron Brown is playing at wing back. That is nothing against the 24-year-old, who is one of their most reliable performers, but it is not his position.

Billy Bodin scored a clinical winner on MK's last visit but has not hit those heights this season and I would have liked to have seen him and Marcus Browne swap positions from the start.

The scoreline could have been so different if Browne or Cameron Brannagan had found the net rather than the woodwork just before the break, with the visitors there for the taking.

The U’s are yet to score a first-half goal this season, yet their injuries have left them lacking firepower off the substitutes’ bench in the closing stages. It should not be a surprise, therefore, that they are now Sky Bet League One's joint second-lowest scorers.

WATCH: Highlights of yesterday's game

The hosts finished strongly and could even have snatched an equaliser after John Mousinho reduced the deficit, but they left it too late.

I said on Friday that this game felt like the end of 'Chapter One' of United's season.

The next fortnight offers them the chance to reset after their bad start, with plenty of time on the training ground, behind closed doors matches and a much-needed rest - the value of which is often overlooked.

When they return, here is hoping the U's are fresher, fitter and firing on all cylinders.