MICHAEL Appleton praised Oxford United's will to win as they put bodies on the line to secure a 1-0 win against Cambridge United.

Ryan Taylor's first-half strike claimed the points when the U's sliced through Cambridge and the front man was unfortunate to see a second goal disallowed for a tight offside call after the break.

But the slender lead gave the visitors hope and United had to see out a tense finish to the game, much of which was played out in their penalty area.

Appleton was relieved his side's failure to kill off the game did not prove costly, but took encouragement from the way they defended as a unit to get over the winning line for the eighth time in the last 11 outings.

The U's boss said: "There were a lot of times, even when we were doing well at the end of last season, where these types of games might have been a draw.

"All of a sudden now there's a real mentality within the group.

"You could tell by the way they defended for the last three or four minutes.

"I know most teams would look to do that, but there was a real grit and you could see people getting around each other.

"When the ball was cleared there was someone getting after the ball, rather than waiting for it to come back. I'm delighted with them."

He added: "I suppose you've got to sometimes have your backs against the wall for a few minutes at the end, but that's always going to happen if you don't get that second goal.

"If we go somewhere and we go a goal down I'd expect us to be putting them under pressure.

"It was a bit heart-stopping towards the end, but they held firm and got the three points I felt they deserved."

  • Highlights from Oxford United's 1-0 win against Cambridge, via the club's official Youtube channel

United made five changes after rotating the squad during Emirates FA Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy ties.

Cambridge played their FA Cup tie a day earlier than the U's and did not have a midweek game, but Appleton felt freshening the team up had done the trick.

He said: "With about 20 minutes left I said to (coaching staff) Faz (Derek Fazackerley) and Chris (Allen) 'do we look as if we've got the energy to see this through?'

"I felt we did, I just wanted to get reassurance from those two.

"I didn't use a sub because I just felt there was a lot of concentration in the team and I didn't want to spoil it.

"That's why we didn't make any changes and I always felt there was enough energy when we had the ball we could make a chance."