DES Buckingham was pleased with the response his Oxford United players showed in the second half, after a somewhat lacklustre opening 45 minutes against Wigan Athletic.

Josh Murphy ensured the sides were level when he equalised in first half stoppage time, with an entertaining second period yielding goals from Cameron Brannagan, Ruben Rodrigues and Tyler Goodrham as the U’s romped to a 4-2 victory.

Buckingham gave a first United start to Jay Matete in midfield, while Sam Long and Murphy haven’t played much football in recent months due to injury.

U’s head coach Buckingham pointed to a lack of fluidity in the first half, but getting minutes into the above trio will be beneficial in the long-term.

“We knew we weren’t near our best in the first half, and we spoke about that at half-time, but the pleasing thing was the response at the start of the second half,” said Buckingham.

“When you look at the fact we started with three players that haven’t played a lot of football, and maybe that sharpness, smoothness and quickness of play, you can put it down to that to a point.

“The pleasing thing is we’ve got a lot of minutes into those now that have returned, and players have come on and had a massive impact, and that puts us in a strong space going into Saturday.

“When players have been out for a period of time, it can take time to find that sharpness and match fitness.

“I’ve spoken about this. It’s about us staying in and around where we wanted, those play-off spots, to put us in a strong position when players return.

“That’s four now unbeaten off the back of a very tough game at Blackpool. Wigan are a good team and well coached.

“They’re in a bit of a false position because of the points deduction, and it wasn’t going to be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination, but the second half response was very good, and players coming on had a massive impact, and that’s going to be so important moving forwards.”

On the message given to his players at half-time, Buckingham said: “There was a lot of frustration kicking around the changing room, but it was just about being clear on what we want to do and how we want to do it.

“Sometimes you can get caught up in some of the styles and ways we want to play, and forget to do the basics well, and that was it in first half.

“It was about making sure we moved the ball quicker, and that our passes and touches were crisper and cleaner.

“When we did that in the second half, that was the key. It’s not about complicating it, it’s about simplifying it sometimes, and they can build on that, as they showed in the second half.”