Oxford United boss delivered this classy verdict on Sunderland defeat and issues Wilson Isidor praise

Oxford United boss Des Buckingham praised Sunderland for a strong performance at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and Wilson Isidor for his brilliant second-half strike.

Oxford came into the game having drawn their last five games in what has been an impressive start to life back in the second tier, but Buckingham admitted they had struggled to live with the pace of Sunderland’s play and the intensity of their pressing on the day.

“I think we've come up against a very good Sunderland side in very good form,” he said. They've shown the quality in this league. We've had a good start ourselves, I think this is probably the first away game where we've come and had a team get on top of the game as much as they did and stopped us doing what we want to do.

“We never really settled in to get to a point where we would be comfortable to play, but also Sunderland didn't really give us the time to do it. It's in those moments you to be brave to play through, round and certainly over if they're going to go 2-v-2 at the back. It's doing at the speed required at this level and this is certainly what we're finding out, the physical demands are higher than we've had in the past and of course because of that you get less time on the ball.”

Buckingham made a tactical switch at half time in introducing Greg Leigh to ty and counter Sunderland’s threat, but Isidor’s strike put Sunderland 2-0 up as he volleyed Dan Neil’s chipped pass in off the inside of the post.

The Oxford boss said he accepted the occasional risk that came with his side trying to play out from the back having lost the ball at the start of that sequence, and added that he wouldn’t take anything away from the move that followed.

“We have to be adaptable, we know, and we felt that changing it at half time would allow us to build a bit better against that press but also stop certain areas that Sunderland were very good at in the first half,” he said.

“We have a way of playing and we don't want to come too far away from that. We're not a team that will just resort to playing long and playing long to get up the pitch, that can be part of a game plan and so at times we'll turn it over. What I'm not going to do is take anything away from that finish, yes we give it away but there's still a lot to do. It's a great ball in and even better finish, to be able to run off the back of a defender at pace and finish first time like - that's a really good goal.

“They're very confident in the way they play, a good young team, very energetic and able to get around the pitch but with skill.”