ALEX MacDonald says Oxford United’s players will need to work extra hard in training this week after failing to heed the instructions from their manager at the weekend.

Sunday’s 3-1 home defeat to AFC Wimbledon saw the U’s lose their unbeaten Sky Bet League One home record, with a disastrous end to the first half proving their undoing.

Although much of the frustration from United’s supporters was directed towards referee Darren Deadman, MacDonald says the players will be looking closer to home for the reason for their defeat.

The midfielder added that he expects head coach Michael Appleton to rightly ask questions of the squad too.

“We need to look at ourselves, not others,” he stressed.

“The first half performance was unlike us and something we are not used to, so before we look at anyone else for excuses, we will look at ourselves.

“You always say you can never win a game in the first half, but you can certainly lose it.”

He added: “We knew Wimbledon were good at set-pieces and the manager drilled that into us in the morning before the match which makes it even more disappointing.

“Their first two goals came from set-pieces, and we discussed that two hours before kick-off.

“Quite rightly he was not happy with us.”

MacDonald, who was making his first league start since August, says the result took the gloss off his return.

“It’s been a long seven games sat there watching the lads from the sidelines,” he said.

“I wanted to get out there and make sure there was a positive result.

“That didn’t happen though which is disappointing.

“I think little lapses in concentration cost us.

“We had a few chances, but couldn’t get that final bit of quality in the final third – and that’s let us down a couple of times this season.

“But the beauty of football is that there’s another game coming up soon and we will look to put things right at the weekend.”