MICHAEL Appleton’s message to his Oxford United players after their humiliation at Cambridge United was very simple – never again.

An alarming performance led to a 5-1 defeat which saw the U’s slip back into the Sky Bet League Two relegation zone.

The head coach did not attempt to make any excuses for the shambolic display, which was in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Appleton’s only hope was that it truly was a one-off.

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He said: “We were second best all over the park. I won’t try and hide from that.

“We just have to make sure this never happens again and that was the message to the players.

“There’s one thing losing a game, but there’s another in the manner you do it.”

He added: “Nothing surprises me in football, but that certainly disappointed me.

“Sometimes you can put a performance in that doesn’t justify losing a game, but I can’t defend the way the players played.

“I think they know it’s going to be a long week before they get the opportunity to put it right.”

While there were poor displays all over the pitch, the defending for Cambridge’s goals was desperate.

Appleton admitted he would have nightmares about the role United played in their own downfall.

He said: “I will and hopefully the players will as well.

“We had a hand in a lot of, if not all of, their goals.

“The players aren’t daft, they will watch it back again and analyse their own performance.

“Come Monday we will try and address that and put it right for next Saturday.”

The heavy defeat added to an intensely frustrating start to the season for Appleton, who has seen his side win just twice in a dozen league games.

He said: “You never stop learning about your players.

“It goes through peaks and troughs throughout the year, there are a lot of ups and downs.

“You don’t learn too much about them when you’re winning most weekends, but then you have to earn the right to do that and I don’t think we’ve done that.”

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