OXFORD United chairman Darryl Eales says he does not hold a grudge over Callum O'Dowda's transfer to Bristol City, despite admitting the move was "messy".

The 21-year-old moved to Ashton Gate yesterday for a seven-figure fee which could rise to £1.6m if certain performance clauses are met.

United will also stand to gain a percentage of the fee if O'Dowda moves again.

It went through after a complex few days, with the Republic of Ireland winger not travelling to Spain with the rest of the squad after calling in sick.

Head coach Michael Appleton said yesterday he felt the club, who did not want to sell, had been backed into a corner and had no choice but to do a deal.

Eales, who did not want to sell, acknowledged the circumstances were far from ideal, but wished O'Dowda well.

He said: "I can only report what actually happened – Callum rung in ill on Saturday and couldn’t play against Solihull Moors and then rang in on Sunday to say he’d been up all night.

"I know Callum – whatever anybody else says I have absolutely no reason to believe he wasn’t ill, but the club can only act on the information it receives.

"We would have loved for Callum to be out here this week.

"As it happened, that’s probably turned out to be for the best.

"Although it was messy, there are no hard feelings.

"Certainly from Michael, the whole coaching staff and myself, we just wish Callum every success in the future."

The move appeared to centre around O'Dowda's desire to play at a higher level than United, who were promoted from League Two in May, could delived this season.

Eales felt with a measure of patience the ambition of playing in the second tier could have been delivered.

He said: "Ultimately it’s disappointing, because certainly Michael and I felt Calllum was a central part of our plans for next season.

"We really did believe that not only the interests of Oxford United, but also the interests of Callum O’Dowda, would have been best served by having a brilliant season in League One.

"As Michael said yesterday, we are trying to build a Championship side, so subject to a timing difference we would hope to be playing competitively in the Championship next season."