MICHAEL Appleton had no argument with the result as Oxford United were outclassed 2-0 by table-topping Shrewsbury Town.

The visitors struck twice in the opening 20 minutes and were rarely troubled by a U’s side who were as poor up front as they have been all season.

And they will need to make a significant improvement when they take on Plymouth Argyle tomorrow.

It was bad timing in front of a big Boxing Day crowd, some of whom booed the side off at half-time and full-time.

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Appleton felt Shrewsbury were the most accomplished team United had faced all season and acknowledged that with several of his players falling short, there was only one winner.

He said: “Sometimes you’ve got to give credit to the opposition and I just thought they were the better side, simple as that.

“It’s difficult and people don’t like admitting when they come up against a better side.

“They’ve got more points than us and it’s no coincidence.”

He added: “Sometimes you can carry one or two players, but you can’t carry four or five.

“I’m certainly not going to stand here and start slaughtering the players, because ultimately they’ve got less than 48 hours to put it right and show they’re capable of playing at the higher end of the division.”

United depart today for their second game of the festive schedule, at Home Park.

They have two injury doubts for the game, both of whom were forced off during yesterday’s game.

Jon Meades is more likely to recover in time after suffering a gash on his nose, but Joe Riley is a doubt after coming off with a hamstring problem.

While the initial diagnosis was the full back had not pulled the muscle, it may be too much of a risk to play again tomorrow.

While there is little time to iron out the problems, goalkeeper Ryan Clarke welcomed the opportunity to play again so rapidly.

He said: “We haven’t got time to dwell on it, we’ve got another game on Sunday.

“When you get knock-backs like this it’s a test of character and you should thrive on proving people wrong.

“That’s what we need to do.”

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