KARL Robinson was proud of Oxford United's performance, but felt it was clear his side need extra firepower as they lost out at Blackpool.

The home side hung on to win 2-1 in a lively game which featured several controversial refereeing decisions.

United, who went 2-0 down before Josh Ruffels halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time, also hit the woodwork twice.

But despite long spells of pressure they could not find the killer touch in front of goal.

Robinson said: "First and foremost thanks to the travelling fans, thanks to my players.

"Everything we’re working on, they’re doing.

Also read: MATCH REPORT - Blackpool 2, Oxford Utd 1

"It’s evident what we need."

He added: "We got applauded off by the (home) fans around us.

"People were saying what a good football team we are.

"I thought we dominated for 86 minutes.

"The first goal we switched off early on from a set piece. The next one isn’t a penalty and they score from that.

"We still haven’t conceded a goal from open play and then we miss chance after chance.

"There’s not much more my players can do, other than we’ve got to bring a striker in."

The spot kick from which Armand Gnanduillet made it 2-0 looked soft, but referee Darren Drysdale then waved away appeals for a clear foul by James Henry after half-time.

United then had three strong claims turned down.

Robinson, who was booked after the penalty which did stand, said: "Why nit-pick over bad refereeing when we should be focusing on how well our players played.

"They had tremendous energy, I don’t think many better teams will come here this year and perform like that against a very good Blackpool team.

"You’ve got to show them tremendous respect, but equally we were by far the better team."