KARL Robinson admitted it was an emotional changing room as his staff savoured a crucial victory after a testing 24 hours.

The 2-1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers came via a stoppage-time stunner from Josh Ruffels, which took the side into the top half of the table for the first time this season.

It came as a huge boost in the club’s bid to avoid relegation from Sky Bet League One, but the build-up had been hampered by the latest in a succession of financial issues.

Only the players were paid for March before the weekend, which the U’s blame on a hold-up in the transfer of money from Thailand, where owner Sumrith ‘Tiger’ Thanakarnjanasuth is based.

It is hoped the funds will clear early this week, possibly even this morning, but until that happens all the non-playing staff are in limbo.

IN PICTURES: Gallery from United's win against Wycombe

Robinson praised the way everyone had handled the situation and it made the win all the sweeter.

He said: “The difficulty we’ve had this year and everything we’ve gone through is remarkable.

“The staff in there were quite emotional, because we’ve worked so hard for each other.

“Everyone has stuck together, we were bottom of the league at one stage and Tiger stuck by us.

“I want to say thank-you to everybody internally because the siege mentality was created on Friday morning. Having the owner here settled a lot of people down.

“The one thing we did say is it doesn’t happen again.”

He added: “We’ve always spoken about learning curves and there might be one or two more bumps in the road and we’re not going to shy away from that.

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“But this was taken completely out of people’s control once again.

“Once we get into the summer there will be an assessment of what’s gone wrong – and it will be a long meeting.”

Fortunately, the off-field issue did not appear to have an impact on the side, who are now as much as 80/1 to get relegated.

The manner of the victory ensured it will probably be the highlight of the season.

Robinson said: “What an unbelievable feeling. That’s why we do this job, for those moments where nothing else in life can ever replicate.

“They live with you for a long time and with all the defeats you get, they are rarities and you should hold on to them.”