KARL Robinson was left less than impressed with players afforded an opportunity in Oxford United’s defeat at Sutton United in the Papa John’s Trophy.

The U’s went into the game top of Southern Group G, but a 2-0 defeat at the home of the Sky Bet League Two side saw them crash out of the competition.

Tyler Goodrham and Matty Taylor missed opportunities in the first half, and were made to pay when the hosts scored twice in the second period.

Coby Rowe scored a header from a corner, before Kylian Kouassi won and tucked away a penalty.

Robinson named a strong starting line-up, while the likes of Djavan Anderson, Steve Seddon and Alex Gorrin were given the chance to impress.

Read the match report here

United’s head coach though was left disappointed by the overall performance of his side.

He said: “The frustrating bit is their goalkeeper is man of the match.

“I think in the first half, there’s two chances – Tyler can’t miss that and Matty can’t miss his – and then the game becomes different.

“We then concede from a set play, which is horrific defending from ourselves.

“I think when you do make some changes, what you do find with that, is a little bit of a lack of organisation and with that lack of organisation then exploited in a goal.

“For me, that’s the frustrating bit.

“We played well against Charlton, we played well against Wycombe and we played well on Saturday.

“In the middle of them, when we’ve made changes, the Chelsea game and this game, we’ve been way below par.

“When the players get given that chance, they need to take it.

“Some of the players who were on the pitch should’ve been more than capable.”

Oxford Mail: Matty Taylor sees his effort drop onto the goalline. Picture: Steve EdmundsMatty Taylor sees his effort drop onto the goalline. Picture: Steve Edmunds

Robinson also said other players were set to feature last night but were unavailable due to illness.

He said: “Five of our players went down with something so the team was different from what we worked on.

“Lewis Bate was meant to play, Cameron Brannagan was going to play and a few others would’ve played.

“One corner and one penalty was the difference, I think from open play we were probably the better team.

“This is a difficult place to come and play, they’re very aggressive and on the front foot.”

Attention now turns to a tough run of fixtures in League One, starting with a home game against Peterborough United on Saturday.

“I’m the first one to take responsibility every single game, and that’s something they know they’ve got to perform at a level on a consistent basis,” said Robinson.

“We’ve got a big week coming up now with Peterborough, Portsmouth and Bolton, and then some big games after that.

“The next six games are massive and we can really claw ourselves back into the race within the league.”