DES Buckingham says there have been no shouting matches among Oxford United’s players in the aftermath of their heavy defeat at Bolton Wanderers.

The U’s were outclassed by a Trotters side which showed an unnerving ruthlessness, in addition to quality, incisive passing and a structure which brought the best out of their players.

Having dominated the game from pretty much the beginning, it wasn’t a surprise when Ian Evatt’s team took the lead after 19 minutes.

That advantage was doubled shortly after, prior to a scintillating 10-minute spell in the second period which yielded three more goals.

READ ALSO: The main talking points from Oxford United’s humiliating hammering

United head coach Buckingham said: “We didn’t give a good account of ourselves at all the other night. That’s probably the most disappointing thing as we weren’t able to showcase what we can play, and for those players to show what they’re capable of.

“You just want a reaction. We’ve shown in-game, whether it’s a goal against, how quick we are to react, and now it’s about making sure we react from the start.

“We’ve had our meetings and reviews of the game, and our usual get togethers that we’ve always had.

“When it becomes a screaming match and it’s loudest voice in the room wins, it often doesn’t provide a resolution that’s going to help.

“We’ve got a way that we work and the players are a lot more comfortable in that to speak up, and that’s important. They’re the ones out on the field doing what we’re asking them to do.”

He added: “I said afterwards that the manager will always take the blame for poor performances and poor results when it goes wrong, and when it goes well, the players rightly take the credit.

“That’s football anywhere across the world. The most important thing now is rather than separate them and staff, it’s not about that. It’s about sticking together going into Saturday to make sure we all get the response we want.”

The U’s remain firmly in Sky Bet League One’s play-off race, sitting in eighth, and just a point outside the top six.

Buckingham said: “That’s the context we have to wrap it in. It’s not just ourselves. If you look anywhere across the league, the league is what it is this year.

“Everybody’s beating everybody, and people are struggling to put runs together. Those that have had runs are now coming off the back of them and are struggling.

“Before the Bolton game, we didn’t get the wins we wanted, but we took results.

“It’s important we use Saturday to start our own run, and make sure that come the end of the season, we finish where we want to finish, and as one of the form teams going into what will hopefully be the play-offs.”