OXFORD United’s on-field management was again questioned as they went down 3-1 at Bristol Rovers.

The visitors were in charge of the game and led through Ben Woodburn’s high-quality strike.

But just as in the 4-2 defeat to Burton Albion four days earlier, the U’s lost their composure after conceding.

While they could have done a better job of clearing the ball, Ed Upson’s equaliser on the volley was stunning.

United, though, could not see out the remaining eight minutes to the break, with Jonson Clarke-Harris turning the contest around with a header.

It left the visitors with an uphill battle which they failed to overcome, despite controlling the second half for long spells.

For Rob Dickie, the key was what happened after the equaliser.

He said: “You have to accept that sometimes there are good goals in football. But from there we need to regroup, keep the score as it is.

“Don’t panic, he’s scored a worldie but that’s fine, we’ll get to half-time at 1-1, see what the manager has to say and come back out.

“It’s a natural reaction to say we’d rather be in the lead, but sometimes you’re better off, especially away from home, just to go in at 1-1.

“The biggest mistake is to not learn from it. We’ll analyse it and go again.”

Boss Karl Robinson had selected a young team – with seven of the starting XI aged 23 or under – in a bid to better deal with the hot conditions.

But the flip side of that is a lack of experience.

He said: “The big worry for me is when we concede we’re very suspect at conceding again very quickly.

“My players are so honest that they try to get back in front.

“We said this the other day against Burton when we went 3-2 down there was an eagerness to really change that and all of a sudden you concede again and the game’s gone.

“That was the problem here, we had wingers in silly areas on the turnover that they managed to get a cross in because of our desire to score. That’s just youth and part of learning.”

Dickie was bitterly disappointed to see United again fall short where it really mattered.

He said: “Between the two boxes we’ve been very good.

“At the end of the game I saw four or five of their players collapse and lie flat on the floor because we’ve run them ragged, but the result is what matters. It’s really frustrating, but football’s all about the result.”