KARL Robinson admitted he would have settled for a point at Shrewsbury Town until Josh Ruffels popped up with a late header to seal victory.

The left back’s 88th-minute winner completed a fantastic comeback from Oxford United, who had trailed their hosts 2-0.

A draw would have left Robinson’s side eighth in Sky Bet League One, but Ruffels’ goal propelled them up to third in a congested promotion race.

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But the U’s head coach said the visitors’ slow start meant he was simply happy not to leave Shropshire empty-handed.

He said: “The big thing is we came away with three points and everything in and around us went in our favour, which is even more pleasing.

“I said to Faz (coach Derek Fazackerley) going into the last five minutes, maybe a point isn’t a bad thing.

“Regardless of the reasons behind it, we weren’t good enough in the first 20 minutes to cope.

“A point wouldn’t have been a bad one, but to win it the way we did – what a magical moment.”

United had struggled to contain Shrewsbury until the home side had midfielder Josh Vela dismissed for a second yellow card in the 35th minute.

The U’s saw more of the ball in the second period, leading Robinson to replace Alex Gorrin with Dan Agyei 12 minutes after the break – and the striker curled home a superb equaliser almost immediately.

It meant Mark Sykes, another substitute, was the deepest-lying midfielder, but Robinson felt his attacking formation was vindicated.

He said: “The players who came on made a difference.

“You never want to bring Alex off because of the heart that he’s got.

“But I felt we were dominating the ball so much and Sykesy’s a better technician.”