OXFORD United held their heads high after giving a strong Leicester City a competitive workout as the English champions won 2-1 at the Kassam Stadium.

A crowd of almost 9,500 turned out for the pre-season friendly as the Foxes began the build-up to their Premier League title defence.

Goals from Demarai Gray and Jeffrey Schlupp decided the game, but they had to come from behind after Chris Maguire opened the scoring.

The Scot had a habit of hitting the woodwork from set pieces last season, so was delighted to lift the jinx.

He said: “It was nice to see the net ripple, I practise every day after training so it’s not a one-off.

“That’s the first that’s gone in at Oxford and hopefully there’s many more to come.

“They are the Premier League champions but we didn’t give them too much respect.

“Obviously they have the better quality as you’d expect, but it was a great test for us and we stood up to it well.”

Claudio Ranieri fielded the vast majority of his household names, including Riyad Mahrez, skipper Wes Morgan and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Ryan Taylor admitted the team news before the game had got the juices flowing in United’s dressing room.

He said: “We weren’t sure coming into the game whether it was going to be full strength or not, so when the teamsheet came out it was great.

“You always want to test yourself as a professional, so what better way than against the champions?”

And United’s display also made an impression with the visiting players, whose only other game on home soil before the season starts is the Charity Shield at Wembley.

Schmeichel said: “They were good and a well-organised team.

“I think it showed that they had played a couple more games than we had, but they were very dynamic, moved the ball well and gave us a good test.”

It may have been Leicester’s first friendly of the summer, but U’s head coach Michael Appleton was delighted.

He said: “They didn’t hold back, which was fantastic for us. We’re very grateful they came, because it will do the players the world of good.”