DES Buckingham feels a draw was a fair result after his Oxford United side earned a point at fellow Sky Bet League One promotion hopefuls Blackpool.

Both goals in the 1-1 draw came from corners within a three-minute period during the first half, as Matt Pennington gave the Seasiders the lead, before Mark Harris found an equaliser for the U’s.

United though had a couple of big chances to nudge in front, with both spurned.

The first came when Marcus McGuane struggled to get the ball out of his feet after working his way into the penalty box, with the midfielder feeding Harris, who was denied by an excellent Marvin Ekpiteta block.

In the closing stages, the returning Billy Bodin headed against the post from Josh Murphy’s wicked cross, although Jamie Cumming had to make a huge save before that, when he thwarted a Pennington header.

U’s head coach Buckingham said: “I thought we had a big chance in the first half with Marcus McGuane, who gave it to Mark, and Marvin Ekpiteta, who I used to coach as a youth player, made an excellent block on the line to prevent it becoming 2-1.

“Then we had an excellent chance at the end of the game, with an excellent cross from Josh Murphy, and Billy Bodin has arrived at the back post, and somehow it’s come off the post and stayed out, rather than hit the back of the net.

“They’ve had a big chance when Jamie Cumming made a world class save, to make sure we leave here with a point.

“On reflection, I’m sure they’ll say the same. They’ve had chances where they feel they could’ve won it.

“To come here, a very tough place where not many teams have left here this season with anything, so I think overall, we’ve done enough to take all three, but I’m pleased we leave with one.

“The first half I thought was a good game, and the second half was a bit scrappy for both teams, and a bit of a fight, but it was good that the group stuck together.”

He added: “It’s about sticking in and around where we want to be, which is in and around those play-off spots.

“As you’ve seen today, we’re stronger as a squad and stronger as a group, and we’ll continue to get stronger game by game now as we move forwards.”