KARL Robinson revealed the Oxford United coaching staff have been deliberately trying to stay calm on the touchline in a bid to help the

players.

The head coach felt Tony Craig should have been sent off and argued Jamie Mackie’s second-half effort was kept out by a defender’s hand in the goalless draw at Bristol Rovers.

But whereas at times this season that would have provoked a big reaction on the touchline, the fourth official had a quiet afternoon.

Robinson acknowledged mistakes had been made and given the U’s position at the wrong end of the Sky Bet League One table, there had been a change of plan.

He said: “In recent weeks we’ve tried to be a little bit calmer, we didn’t get carried away.

“I can’t believe Jamie Mackie got booked for running into the back of somebody.

“It was almost laughable when their guy (Ed Upson) in the second half made three tackles that could have been bookings.

“Normally I would have got myself sent to the stands, but it’s important we learn from the mistakes at the beginning of the year as a group and we kept our heads.

“I’m still burning inside to want to win, but we’re on warnings with yellow cards and we know that’s not helping the players.

“It’s OK when you’re winning being aggressive, but maybe when we’re losing games we’ve got to withdraw a little bit from that.

“Hopefully that calmness spreads to the pitch.”

He added: “I’ve not been through this period before and I have to take massive responsibility.

“I feel the pain of the fans and it hurts me a lot, so sometimes you have to look at yourself.”

Overall, Robinson felt the result was another step in the right direction.

He said: “The players have been excellent and they’ve given everything they possibly can.

“We’ll probably be a bit more disappointed than they would be (with a point).”