OXFORD United boss Chris Wilder let his players know in no uncertain terms what he thought after seeing his side fall to their fourth straight defeat on Saturday.

The manner of United’s 4-1 loss at Crawley left Wilder hugely disappointed with his side.

And he has now challenged his players to show how good they are and get themselves out of their slide.

There is no denying that United have had an incredibly tough run of matches, but defeat means this Saturday’s home game against high-flying Cheltenham takes on added importance.

“We have talked in the dressing room about certain things and the responsibility of the players – and they need to step up to the plate now,” Wilder said.

“We were below our best today, there’s no hiding away from it.

“We’re in a little bit of a difficult situation and it’s a true test of everybody.

“But we lost games last year and came back into it, we lost games the first full season I was here and we came back and ended up getting promoted – it’s a nine-month season.

“Maybe this is our little period that we need to get over as soon as possible and that will be a sign of a good side – and we are a good side – but we need to show the signs sooner rather than later.”

A nightmare opening saw the U’s trail to a fourth-minute goal, and then go 2-0 behind in the 14th minute.

Leading scorer James Constable pulled one back, but a horrible mistake from keeper Ryan Clarke in first-half injury time gave the hosts a lift at just the wrong moment from Oxford’s point of view.

The fourth goal, seven minutes after half-time, was the final nail in United’s coffin.

“It was important that we kept it tight early on and to go 1-0 down after three or four minutes and 2-0 after ten or 15 just kills you,” Wilder said.

“They got off to an absolute flier and although we started imposing ourselves and then got the goal through great play by Beano (Constable), who has chased down a lost cause, the third goal has absolutely murdered us.

“The keeper will probably look at himself for the fourth because he should have been that side of the goal and from then on in I don’t think that Crawley were ever in danger.”