John Sheridan lauds Conor McAleny goal after Fleetwood’s win at Oxford

Fleetwood boss John Sheridan hailed Conor McAleny’s stoppage-time stunner as “a magnificent goal” after his team’s 1-0 win at Oxford.

McAleny, who was at loan at the Kassam Stadium last season, cut in from the left and hammered a fierce 25-yard drive over home goalkeeper Simon Eastwood.

The victory takes Fleetwood to 54 points, moving them up to 11th in the Sky Bet League One table.

Sheridan said: “It was a magnificent goal and I’m chuffed to bits it was him who scored the goal.

“He’s had a difficult time because he beats himself up too much for me.

“He’s got some quality in his game, so I’m hoping that will give him a big lift.

“It was a goal worthy of winning any game.”

Sheridan added: “I didn’t enjoy the game, actually. I thought Oxford were the better team but it was a scrappy game.

“I was disappointed in how we played, to be honest, but I’m obviously pleased that we got the three points that, I feel, will keep us in the division.

“And to do that with four games to go too, it’s a fantastic achievement for everybody at the football club.

“We do defend well. Even tonight, Oxford have given us one or two problems, but we defended situations well.”

Oxford, on the other hand, are looking over their shoulders still after a second successive home game in which they failed to find the net.

Karl Robinson has still not tasted victory in his five games in charge of the U’s, while Oxford have managed just one point out of 24 in their eight matches against Fleetwood.

But they did not play badly and Robinson admitted afterwards he was shell-shocked by the late goal, and the result, which leaves them still in trouble.

“I’m speechless,” Robinson said. “In all my career I’ve not experienced hurt like that.

“The hurt inside me, for my players and our fans, is unbelievable.

“Good players like McAleny are going to do that when they have space, but we had so many times when our strikers were one against one in front of goal.

“Scoring goals is the catalyst for everything, and we weren’t able to do that. Yet we created so many chances.

“We had all four of our strikers on the pitch at the end, so I couldn’t have done any more. And we do finishing in training every day.”

Oxford remain just five points above the relegation zone, and have a difficult run-in.

Robinson, who blasted the referee after he failed to award the U’s a penalty, insisted: “We should be eight points clear. It’s very hard to take, because we played some good football tonight.

“I thought the referee was rubbish. His static nature from set pieces and all-round performance was way below what you expect.

“I feel so sorry for my players but at the end of the day you have to put away chances.”