TONY Capaldi made no excuses and admitted Oxford United gave away “terrible” goals in their defeat to York City.

The visitors fell behind after just 17 seconds and their defence did not look comfortable as they fell to a 3-1 defeat.

It was an unfamiliar display for the back four, who had not conceded from open play in their opening three league games.

Capaldi held his hands up after a bad day at the office.

He said: “The performance wasn’t too bad but the goals were terrible.

“We don’t make any excuses and at any level, especially at a professional level, giving away goals is costly. “We’ve been good so far this season with keeping clean sheets but this wasn’t one of our better days and we need to get back to basics.”

He added: “The performances aren’t perfect at the minute and there are still things to work on. “We’re not kidding ourselves, we’re not the complete article yet and we have to get back to the training ground and work hard.”

The game might have been different if Deane Smalley had converted a penalty early on.

The striker had scored against Bournemouth in a penalty shoot-out last month, but this time he saw his spot kick saved.

Despite the setback, Capaldi felt it was just one of a series of incidents to go against the U’s and the left back refused to point the finger.

“It’s part and parcel of football, people miss penalties,” he said.

“Deano stepped up in the shoot-out and smashed it in, so there’s no blame, people miss penalties week-in week-out.”