MICHAEL Appleton rued Oxford United’s contrasting problems in the final third as they drew for the first time in 21 games with a goalless stalemate at Northampton Town.

It was a contest where the best performers on each side were the goalkeepers – Simon Eastwood kept out Matt Taylor’s penalty, while Cobblers stopper Adam Smith made two inspired late saves.

Appleton was in no doubt the result was a missed opportunity, the root of which lay in a failure to make correct decisions around the Northampton penalty area.

The head coach said: “In the first half I thought we were pulling the trigger at ridiculous times.

“They went from one extreme to the other.

“We were probably too precise in the second half, but we still controlled the majority of the game.”

He added: “Two points dropped is the way I’d describe it.

“I know we’ve asked Easty to make a penalty save, but we only did that because of our ridiculous decision-making at times.

“I thought going forward, especially in the second half, some of our play was outstanding.

“We just didn’t have that killer-instinct to finish it off.

“You can dress it up as much as you want, but ultimately you’ve got to take opportunities when they come in a tight game like that.”

The result did further damage to United’s chances of a late push into the Sky Bet League One play-off places, with the gap being extended to seven points.

Appleton said: “If we won the game 1-0 all of a sudden you’d be thinking ‘come on then, let’s go again’.

“It’s not quite done by any stretch of the imagination, but I think Tuesday (at home to Bury) will go a long way to finding out what type of last six games we might have.”

There was better news on two fitness concerns.

Josh Ruffels was forced off in the second half, but United believe the midfielder was only suffering from cramp.

The prognosis on Chris Maguire also looks positive. The forward could be involved against Bury after being left out of Saturday’s squad with a groin injury.