Portsmouth managerial contender’s verdict after struggling Oxford United side’s superior display

The U's head coach credited his struggling team for putting in a 90-minute performance, which warranted more than a 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium.

Oxford are winless in 16 games and were outside of the bottom four going into the clash with Pompey.

Yet, it was Manning’s side who had the better of it, clocking up 21 shots on goal to the Blues’ six.

The man who was a contender to succeed Danny Cowley in January felt it was only Oxford’s cutting edge which let them down.

Manning told the Oxford Mail: 'For 90 minutes, I thought everything was there bar the finish.

'The intensity we showed at the start and the organisation, the way we pressed, the way we won first contacts and second balls – there were so many positive aspects.

'Ultimately if you don’t have quality to finish it, you don’t deserve more but the rest of it is probably the most important bit.

'It’s the best 90 minutes we’ve had and we need to make sure that’s the bare minimum now and the benchmark for the final four games.

'I’m sure if we do that again, we’ll win games.'

After four draws since succeeding Karl Robinson, Manning suffered his first Oxford loss on Saturday against Bolton.

The former MK Dons boss saw much more to be satisfied about against Pompey after that setback.

He added: ‘I couldn’t fault the effort whereas I could at the weekend.

'Every single individual but more importantly as a collective, the behaviours were correct in terms of their intensity we expect.

'I thought in the second half, we were on top for most of the half so it’s a case of try and sustain that momentum.

'There was a good noise and good atmosphere. Fans know when people are working as hard as they can.

'You saw that tonight, the players left it all out there.

'People pay hard-earned money to come and watch and that’s the bare minimum they can expect, and the players did a good job of that tonight and the fans did a terrific job in supporting the players.'