KARL Robinson was proud of the way Oxford United's players dealt with adversity before claiming a 1-1 draw against Sunderland.

Ricky Holmes put the visitors in front at a packed Stadium of Light and the U's chances were quickly boosted by Max Power's red card.

But substitute Charlie Wyke equalised after the break and neither side could force a winner late on.

United may have felt it was an opportunity to claim a victory wasted, but Robinson revealed his squad's preparations had been hit by a food poisoning bug.

He said: "We were brilliant today.

"At 11 versus 11 we were by far the better team, they couldn’t handle us. 

"We travelled to Newport on Tuesday and got back at 1am.

"We travelled seven hours up here yesterday and on top of that there was a bit of food poisoning in the camp.

"There was diarrhoea going through six or seven of them before the game.

"We were thinking ‘what have we done to deserve this?’

"I’m so proud of the players. I’ve just said to them we might see it as two points thrown away, but we’ve now had a week where we’ve won two and drawn one."

Marcus Browne had an excellent game and the West Ham loanee felt the frustration at only taking a point was a mark of United's progress.

He said: "If you had told us before the game we were going to get a point I think everyone would have been delighted, but finishing the game as a team we felt like we should have won.

"It shows how far the team has come from the disappointing start.”

Shandon Baptiste, another shining light for the visitors, added: "The one shot they had went in, so for us it is a bit frustrating.

"But a lot of teams will not get a point here against a good Sunderland side, so I think we can go home happy."