KARL Robinson was delighted to see his changes come off as Oxford United held out to beat Wigan Athletic.

The U’s boss made four alterations to the side that lost 2-0 to Crewe Alexandra four days prior, with Marcus McGuane and Liam Kelly called upon in midfield.

Jordan Obita started on the left wing and Rob Atkinson returned at centre back, with the quartet all impressing in the 2-1 victory.

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United were lacking in several areas against Crewe and Robinson was pleased to see those issues addressed.

He said: “After what we saw on Tuesday I can’t come out and go ‘that’s not acceptable, let’s just roll the dice again’.

“You have to change some things and we had some very stern, strong, honest words together on Wednesday and Thursday.

“I had a really good feeling. The players trained phenomenally well on Thursday and Friday and it was a beauty to watch them get in to each other.

“I’ve seen that rotation of Kells and Longy (Sam Long) and Jamo (James Henry getting in the pockets.

“We were keeping a left winger wide and there were people getting around Matty (Taylor), which we’ve worked on in the week.

“I’ve seen the players take on board an awful lot of things and they deserve the credit.”

Obita, McGuane and Atkinson were all thwarted in the first half as the visitors were unable to make their dominance pay.

It took until the 61st minute for United to finally take the lead through Taylor, who had half a dozen opportunities himself.

In contrast, Wigan offered little and caretaker manager Gregor Rioch admitted he was expecting an improved U’s display.

He said: “We knew we were coming up against a very good Oxford United side.

“Karl Robinson’s a very experienced manager and his teams are always well organised.

“We knew they’d be looking for a reaction after their defeat at Crewe in midweek.”