Mark Robinson was reluctant to use our lack of recent matches as an excuse for defeat at Oxford, but he felt it did have an impact on the performance.
In stark contrast to the away displays at Accrington and Wycombe, the Dons put in a below-par performance at the Kassam Stadium.
Robbo said: "It was a really tough night, a disappointing performance. I didn't see it coming as our last two performances had been really good. We were high energy. You would worry a little bit after 18 days without a game what we were going to be like, but we had been traning really well.
"I've got to look at our training regime. Did we do enough big pitch stuff? Everything we are about just wasn't there. We had a lack of energy, we looked lethargic, and we never got going. When we did get the ball we gave it away cheaply. All the good things we didn't do and their movement was excellent. Against any side you cannot afford to give the ball away, let alone against a side that are decent."
Our Head Coach felt that his players made it easy for an Oxford side that are likely to be in the hunt for promotion once again.
"90 minutes tonight will not define our season, the same as 90 minutes at Wycombe didn't. It's one game when we were poor on and off the ball and we have to look at why. When we beat them at home we got around the ball really well and we hunted in packs, but this time we didn't get close to them. We didn't win our one versus one duels, so they were switching play for fun, and then it became hard work. I don't want to use the 18 days as an excuse because that plays the victim, but we looked rusty and lethargic.
"We will have to look at the training, but it's very difficult to recreate game intensity. When you know you are going to have 18 days without a game you can work the boys hard physically, but when you are preparing for a match and it gets called off a day before it's difficult. You look back and think, 'have we worked them hard enough physically for 18 days?' Probably we haven't, but you can't do that because you are preparing for games and they are getting cancelled a day before. We lacked sharpness. Now that we know we have 10 days without a game we have to make sure that we are ready for the FA Cup game."
Click on the link below to listen to Chris Thorpe's full interview with Robbo.