Oxford United v Sheffield Wednesday: Karl Robinson admits Owls should have been awarded 'stonewall penalty'

The Owls twice took the lead but were unable to take anything from the game due to defending their manager Darren Moore described as ‘bitterly disappointing’.

But 1-0 up after a dominant first half-hour in which a Barry Bannan wonder strike gave them the lead, wing-back Jack Hunt was brought down when in on goal with what looked like a stonewall foul.

Moore said he felt it was a definite penalty in a frustrated post-match press conference, a view Robinson was happy to agree with, saying his team had their fair share of luck in defence.

“Sometimes you get that little bit of luck,” he said. “It either hits you or it doesn’t. In previous weeks it’s gone beneath us or through us or something else.

“Sometimes things drop in your favour. We started well. Their goal came a little bit against the run of play and for the next 20 minutes we lost control of the game.

“They should have had a penalty. It was a blatant penalty on Hunt in the box.

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“But we had to do something to see out that first half. We changed tactically and we felt we had to work for it.”

The visit of Wednesday saw Oxford record their biggest attendance of the season, a likely outcome Robinson admitted gave his side a lift in a raucous atmosphere.

He said: “We perform for our fans, we don’t worry about anybody else’s. Today was a big day for us. We knew there was going to be 10,000 plus and we knew it was going to be a very difficult challenge against a very good team. I thought my players stood up to it.

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“The first one was a strike from outside the box that was a bit of quality. That sort of thing doesn’t always happen against you. Those [Wednesday] are a good team.

“I’m really pleased for the players and fans everybody. It is a really good result.”