OXFORD United's defeat to Tranmere Rovers gave Karl Robinson a better idea of which players will leave the club this summer.

The U's put in arguably their worst performance for several months as they were beaten 2-0 in Tuesday's Papa John's Trophy semi-final.

United still have 20 Sky Bet League One matches left this season, but head coach Robinson admitted the manner of the defeat helped clarify his thinking over potential departures.

He told BBC Radio Oxford’s Five Minute Fans Forum: “Sometimes there’s a clear difference in where we want to go and where we’ve been.

“It’s standing out more and more the better we become.

“I wouldn’t say the Tranmere game was the deciding vote, but it only told me what I already knew.”

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Robinson added: “You need a squad, so you need good personalities around the building.

“There might be players you think are a little bit off it, but they bring a bit of glue and make things complete behind the scenes.

“That’s part of building a squad to compete in the EFL.

“It’s not always what you do on the pitch, I know people will always be judged on that.

“Sometimes you’re best having players who might underperform but are low maintenance and have a great personality around the place.”

One person who did not feature against Tranmere was Dan Agyei.

The forward has been left out of the squad for United’s last four matches and has not played a minute since the 1-0 win over Fleetwood Town on January 30.

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Robinson publicly criticised the 23-year-old for not being ready to enter the action as a second-half substitute that day, when Agyei also missed a simple chance to seal victory.

But the U’s boss explained it did not tempt him to send the former Burnley man out on loan last month.

He said: “We’ve got so many games coming up, there’s going to be an injury crisis at some stage.

“We’re better having more players we can carry with our financial situation, rather than pushing them out on loan and three or four games down the line we need them.

“I have to make selfish decisions for the benefit of the football club.

Robinson also revealed there would ‘hopefully’ be news regarding one of United’s out-of-contract players this week, with six members of the

first-team squad reaching the end of their deals in June.

The head coach also said the U’s are eyeing a pre-season tour to Spain this summer, if the coronavirus pandemic allows.

Robinson said: “We’ve had plans to go back to Spain on hold for 12 months.

“By then we’re hoping the vaccinations could have filtered down to professional sport.”