MATTY Taylor hailed Oxford United's spirit after they dug deep to claim their first Sky Bet League One victory of the season.

The striker also got off the mark individually, scoring twice late on to seal a 4-1 victory at ten-man Accrington Stanley.

It came at the end of a week where United, who already had a lengthy injury list, were hit by a flu bug which saw four players have to be tested for coronavirus.

The quartet came back negative, but several played while under the weather.

Taylor said: "The first win is always the hardest. We had two performances which were OK but we know where we needed to do better.

"The performance to a man was exceptional.

"I felt they got a dubious penalty to get them back in the game, but then we showed heart, character and desire to go in front. 

"They got a red card and then we punished them and killed the game."

James Henry put United ahead on the stroke of half-time, but Simon Eastwood conceded a penalty which allowed Ryan Cassidy to equalise.

A fortunate ricochet saw Cameron Brannagan celebrating putting United 2-1 ahead, but it has been credited as a Joe Pritchard own goal.

Dion Charles was given a straight red card during a melee, before Taylor's double made the game safe.

Head coach Karl Robinson was happiest with the work ethic though.

He said: "Every time we gave the ball away today, our reactions to regain it were sensational.

"People will talk about our style and how we play, but today our DNA was about working hard.

"If you make a mistake rectify it with your reaction. That was the most pleasing thing.

"We were in complete control of the game and gave away a crazy penalty.

"Then we had a bit of luck, but we’ve had some horrendous luck in the last few days."