MICHAEL Appleton paid tribute to Oxford United’s never-say-die attitude following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Peterborough United, writes MARK EDWARDS.

It looked as though the U’s would be kept waiting for a first Sky Bet League One victory with the scoreline level going into the final minutes of stoppage time.

But Chris Maguire’s last-gasp penalty gave United maximum points.

However, it could have been so different had goalkeeper Simon Eastwood not produced a miraculous save three minutes from time to stop Josh Ruffels from scoring an own goal.

A cross from Adil Nabi hit the United left back and was destined for the net, only for Eastwood to dive back and somehow claw the ball out.

It was ultimately a game-changing save.

“Absolutely,” Appleton said. “It certainly was.

“It was almost like a Gordon Banks-type one, but he kept hold of it.

“I’m not going to tell him that though or he’ll think he is Gordon Banks. But it certainly was crucial.”

He added: “To not get that second goal and then concede shows a lot of resilience from my players to come back how they did.

“The opposition have lots of quality and we had to really dig deep.”

Appleton felt the first three points were all the more crucial due to the slightly subdued atmosphere he felt before the match due to his side’s lack of a league success.

“It’s massive for me because it annoyed me a little bit when we got here today,” he admitted.

“There was anxiety and tension all around the place.

“We are a side who are still searching for that rhythm we had last season, there’s no doubt about that, but I thought there were massive improvements today.

“Performance-wise it was much better and of course we are all delighted with the three points.

“Hopefully we can really push forward from here.”