OXFORD United players reported to the training ground yesterday following the weekend defeat to Plymouth Argyle.

The squad was not initially supposed to be in, but Karl Robinson wanted to discuss issues that arose during the 3-1 home loss to the Sky Bet League One leaders.

On Saturday, the United head coach said he felt a failure to take chances and letting Plymouth’s wide players cut inside proved costly.

The squad analysed the game in more detail yesterday and Robinson revealed he left feeling encouraged as the U’s prepare for tomorrow’s visit of Shrewsbury Town.

“It was a lightbulb moment for all of us to realise how much further we can go,” he said.

“I don’t think you need to see a reaction (tomorrow), because the performance was there.

“It was just about clearing up one or two things and having that longevity, rather than having smaller spurts of performances.

“If we do that, we win more games than we lose. That was one of the many things we spoke about yesterday.”

The U’s are ninth and still only a point outside the play-off places after Saturday’s defeat, which was their first at home in League One this season.

Read also: Matty Taylor's reaction to Oxford United's defeat to Plymouth

They were up against a Plymouth side who are now 12 games unbeaten in the third tier, but Robinson felt this weekend reinforced the level of expectation at United.

He said: “It’s important for them to criticise me as well.

“I enjoy being in that moment where you are vulnerable.

“It’s a sign of knowing who you are as a person, when you feel you can expose who you are.

“That’s when you can start leading people and improving yourself, first and foremost.

“If we’d got beaten by bottom of the league we’d be in, because we’d be angry and disappointed.

“When you’re bringing people in off the back of getting beat by the league leaders, it just shows where our standards are at.

“It’s about this football club putting those standards ahead of everybody else’s.

“We believe in what our badge stands for and what we want to achieve, so to do it against a team who are top is a reminder that we need to do more.

“When I went home yesterday I was glad we did that.”