Midfielders in the firing line as Curle admits he's 'still frustrated' by Oxford display

Keith Curle criticised his midfielders and admitted he is 'still frustrated' by his side's feeble performance at Oxford United in midweek after re-watching the game back a couple of times.

Curle gave an honest and frank post-match interview in the aftermath Tuesday's League One fixture but whilst he was more measured at Friday's pre-match press conference, his disappointment remained evident.

"I'm still frustrated," admitted Curle. "You get the immediate reaction but I've watched the game back a couple of times and there's a lot of things to take into consideration.

"You've got to have a look at the big picture and the big picture is that there have been two sets of 45 minutes this season that I've been really unhappy with - the second-half at Portsmouth when we were turned over and then the second-half on Tuesday.

"Portsmouth are a club that shouldn't be in this division in my opinion and although Oxford have a lowly league position at the moment, they were play-off final contenders only last season so that's the big picture.

"But I wasn't happy with our reaction after the first goal and the second goal. That's what disappointed me most because I didn't see enough fight. You have to accept you are going to get negative results in football but there's a way of losing and I didn't see enough fight in that second-half."

Having now analysed the game with his coaching staff and the players, Curle was particularly critical of his midfield quartet at the Kassam.

"We set out a formation where we wanted to get hold of the ball," Curle added. "We played four midfield players but I can't remember any of them playing forward passes.

"If you're not going to get on the ball and go and play forward, you're not going to give the strikers any opportunities to create and score goals. I could go and play now at 57 years old and not look to play forward.

"If we're setting out a formation where we need players to get on the ball, you've got to do your job and go and get on the ball. We've had a couple of meetings and we've shown the players the evidence. If they think they were trying there, well, there's got to be more to come."