DES Buckingham was pleased to leave Wycombe Wanderers with a point after his Oxford United side endured a physical battle on the road.

Neither side could find a goal, with the Chairboys unable to grab an opener despite an aerial bombardment in the first half.

The U’s were better in the second period, with chances for Tyler Goodrham, Cameron Brannagan and Billy Bodin, plus a late penalty shout for a challenge on Ruben Rodrigues, which saw the Portuguese playmaker booked for simulation.

United head coach Buckingham said: “It’s an extremely hard-earned point against a team that has picked up some really good results of late.

“They play a very difficult way at times. We lost Elliott Moore late night, which was disruptive, but it’s the first clean sheet in a while.

“We just need to be calmer on the ball. We created a lot more in the second half, and there was a penalty at the end to possibly come away with three points.

“It’s a good point away from home, but we need to make sure we back it up on Tuesday.”

Jamie Cumming made a couple of important stops with his feet in the first half, denying Dale Taylor on both occasions.

Buckingham said: “That’s what he’s there for. A goalkeeper’s job is to make saves, and we need to make it more difficult to stop those chances.

“We reacted and came out in the second half a lot better in our set-up. Billy came on and made a big difference, and Will [Goodwin] gave us 45 minutes of a different way of playing, when teams are playing direct.

“He gives us a different option to go into, with feet and not necessarily in the air.”

He added: “We want to be able to control the game for 90 minutes, but that’s very rare in football anyway.

“The most important thing is we came here and got a result, and it keeps us in and around where we want to be.

“We’ve got more minutes into players and our attention now turns to Tuesday.”