GARY Rowett was disappointed with the lack of control Oxford United exerted against Bristol City after the Robins were reduced to 10 men.
Joe Willliams was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Will Vaulks just after half an hour had been played at Grenoble Road, but the sides then exchanged second half goals before the Robins saw Ross McCrorie shown a second yellow card with four minutes to go.
United ended the game with almost 70 per cent possession and 20 shots, but were unable to make their numerical advantage count.
READ ALSO: Initial reaction from U’s boss after lively draw with Robins
U’s head coach Rowett said of the red card for Williams: “I think it was reckless, and I think it was dangerous. Whether it warranted a straight red card, it’s not really for me, but the referee was right in front of it.
“He did leave the floor, and it was a tackle that perhaps as a player you don’t really need to give the referee a decision.
“It was a little bit reckless and therefore you give the referee no choice. Whether it’s a straight red card or not, I’ll let everyone else decide.”
On the challenges United faced against 10 men, Rowett said: “Everyone expects you to go and create lots of chances, and go and win the game comfortably.
“Early on in the game, when they’re trying to press us high, sometimes three or four players are taken out of that and you’ve got to beat six players, whereas it then makes it really simple. You’ve got to beat all 10.
“Players deep behind the ball are often very organised, with little space. You can do that in training, and it’s hard to break down 10 players when you’re playing with 11 because of the spaces and the quality you need to do that.
“It was a good learning curve for us. Having gone 1-0 up, that’s more the frustration.
“We did break them down and we did score a goal that we needed to win the game, and the fact we let them get one back is a little bit of a missed opportunity.”
Rowett added: “We got drawn into it in terms of being a bit frantic after they scored. I felt we didn’t settle quickly enough into the game that we needed to play.
“I felt that the first sending off up until half-time, we didn’t settle down enough. I thought we had a 15 to 20-minute spell after half-time where we actually played with a little bit of control, and we lost that control on the ball, but not physically or in those tackles.”