Oxford boss Karl Robinson hailed the reaction of his players to the weekend’s setback as they drew 0-0 with Ipswich.

United gave up two late goals to lose to derby rivals Swindon on Saturday but responded with a first clean sheet in the league since February.

And Robinson said: “The boys gave me everything tonight. You could see the hurt from Saturday.

“We looked very organised, very determined, and we had some good moments.

“And you have to remember, we had a lot of young people in the team. There’s a lot more to come from us, but there’s also a long way to go in the season still.

“We need to get better at making ourselves more solid, both with the ball and without the ball. What pleases me is that it’s a clean sheet and we played well.

“The nervous energy of the last five or six minutes, because of the lack of clean sheets we’ve had, probably took its toll in terms of us not producing a bit more at the end.

“Overall it was probably more two points dropped rather than one point gained. But we felt the players rebounded well from the Swindon defeat.

“The lads all say the goals will come, and we know we’ve got goals in the football club.

“We were very unlucky with deflections going just the wrong side of the post and with James Henry’s header which hit the post.”

For injury-hit Ipswich, the 0-0 draw stopped the rot after successive league defeats but their young team created little and it was not until the 75th minute that they managed an effort on goal.

Under-pressure Ipswich Town boss Paul Lambert said he was proud of his youthful team, even though his side have now gone three league games in a row without finding the net.

“The stick we have been getting, and the total negativity from so many people, is an absolute joke,” Lambert said.

“Half of the team I’ve put out were kids, and I’m proud of them and how they have performed.

“There’s a lot of negativity about us, which is not right. The two centre-backs are 19 and most of my team are under 22, they’re kids really. They gave us everything and I’m proud of them.

“It’s been a really difficult time with so many players out, and we don’t have the depth.

“But it would be wrong to criticise the young players who’ve been out there tonight. David Cornell in goal made some good saves, and a lot of them played well.

“We’ve come to a difficult place – Oxford were in the play-off final last season – and come away with a point and it stops the run of two defeats in a row we’d had.

“The pressure and the criticism I’m getting doesn’t bother me. Have you seen what it’s like at Celtic? I’ve played with big clubs, and managed big clubs, and I’ve never wilted.

“Ipswich is a massive club too – but these are young players and it’s not right to criticise them unfairly. For some of them that could really damage their chances of going on to become good players.

“The big thing for me tonight was not to lose, and we’ve done that.”