Karl Robinson praised his side for keeping their emotions in check after beating arch-rivals Swindon 2-1 to bolster their play-off hopes.

Goals from Brandon Barker and substitute Dan Agyei earned Oxford the bragging rights, with Taylor Curran replying for the relegation-haunted hosts late on.

Oxford goalkeeper Jack Stevens had earlier saved a penalty for the second game in a row to deny Brett Pitman.

U’s manager Robinson said: “The penalty was a great save but we should have been two, three, four up.

“There were derby tackles going in. I said to the players in there, ‘if you are going to win a derby game, win it with the fans biting their nails a little bit’.

“I’m sure every Oxford United fan at home has very few nails left.

“We made it more difficult than we had to. It was a very good performance. I said ‘treat it like a derby but like you are challenging for the top six, so take away the emotion’ – we did that very well.”

Robinson’s side outplayed Swindon throughout and took just three minutes to open the scoring when Barker fired home from the edge of the penalty area.

The hosts were gifted the chance to equalise against the run of play when Anthony Grant was brought down in the box.

Pitman stepped up to take the spot-kick but Stevens guessed correctly, saving low to his left.

Agyei killed the game off in the 82nd minute when he slotted in from a tight angle inside the box to finally give Oxford the two-goal cushion they richly deserved.

Curran stabbed in a consolation goal deep into added time but it was too little, too late for Swindon.

Swindon manager John Sheridan dodged post-match media duties as his side sunk deeper into trouble.

Sheridan’s assistant Tommy Wright said: “I thought we were poor in the first half. Oxford were the better team and losing a goal so early in a derby match is not great.

“In the second half we kept going. Obviously the penalty is a disappointment and we gave another bad goal away, but we kept going and Taylor Curran got a good goal.

“We’re disappointed. It’s hard, they’re human beings and the confidence is going but they’ve got to keep going.

“They’re a bit fragile at the moment but there is another game on Saturday and football can change quickly. We have to make it change quickly.”