‘Nothing short of an embarrassment’ - Oxford United boss fumes at refereeing display against Portsmouth

Regardless, the Oxford United boss insisted his players fought like ‘trojans’ to pick up a gutsy point at Fratton Park.

The U’s head coach’s frustrations were clear on the touchline as the Blues levelled in controversial circumstances in the 78th minute.

Amid handball claims, referee Purkiss consulted with his assistant before awarding Colby Bishop his ninth goal of the season.

Indeed, United went down to 10 men just six minutes before Pompey’s equaliser, with Billy Bodin adding to their list of suspensions.

Robinson called the decision to allow the Blues’ goal an ‘embarrassment’ and insisted his players gave everything on a tough night at Fratton Park.

He told Oxford Mail: ‘I’m so proud of my players and what they give.

‘From me and my point of view, I don’t understand what he’s seen.

‘Again it’s nothing short of an embarrassment, when you see the handball, it’s unbelievable.

‘You’re coming here against a good team, who are in the top six and players that we know are very, very good players. They’re a good team, they’re well-coached and well-managed.

‘From the front end of the pitch and centrally, they’ve got some really good players, and we for 45 minutes were very good. My players are giving me everything.’

The draw drops Oxford to 20th in League One, with a slow start establishing them as early strugglers in the division.

However, Robinson is convinced the league table doesn’t reflect their performances – and is adamant his side have been the better team in recent games.

He added: ‘We’ve just been like trojans out there, we really have. I absolutely love this group, they give me everything every week.

‘The league table is false in relation to desire and games where we’ve been better than the opposition.

‘In the second half, they were far better but that’s because we were down to 10 men.

‘I’m frustrated, but I’m equally proud of my players and the fans who travelled to watch us play.’