MICHAEL Appleton said there were no excuses for the “schoolboy errors” which saw Oxford United crumple at the back to concede three goals in five minutes against Barnet on Saturday.

The dreadful spell in the first half allowed Barnet to race into a 3-1 lead and although Liam Sercombe bagged his second of the game before half-time, United could not rescue the game.

The U’s head coach, felt there were no mitigating factors which helped to explain the nightmare spell.

He said: “I’d be amazed if we have another five minutes like that this season, and if we did we’d be doing something about it in terms of personnel.

“It was just concentration, we had opportunities to deal with things and clear the ball, but we just didn’t do it.

“I certainly don’t want to make excuses.

“Regardless of whether we were tired mentally or physically, you can’t make the mistakes we’ve made.

“There’s the old saying about schoolboy errors, but that’s what they were at times.”

United’s boss did not reject suggestions that having taken the lead early on, the side were over-confident.

“Possibly, there’s a fine line between having a touch of arrogance and letting complacency set in,” he said.

“We do speak to the players regularly about it.

“If they were complacent, I would be amazed if they are again after what happened in that spell.”

While there was plenty to criticise, Appleton pointed to United’s third place in the Sky Bet League Two table and the fact it was only their second defeat since March.

He said: "You have to put things into perspective at times.

“They have been very consistent and solid for most of the season and the final third of last season.

“I hope it’s an isolated incident and we move on really quickly.”