Appleton delighted with Oxford

Boss Michael Appleton hailed Oxford's powers of recovery after they won their crucial basement battle with Tranmere.

United beat Rovers 2-0 to bounce back from their televised 5-1 drubbing at Cambridge in their last outing to record successive home wins for the first time in two years. Tyrone Barnett struck in the 28th minute and substitute Alfie Potter sealed victory late on as United moved up to 20th in League Two. "I asked the players to give me a reaction, and they did so," said U's head coach Appleton. "I genuinely believe that last Saturday [at Cambridge] would be a one-off. "I thought this was a decent performance. After Ryan Clarke made a save early on, I can't really remember them causing us any real problems. "Whereas we created four or five glorious opportunities. We scored two, and I don't know how we didn't score at least one more, because with Danny Hylton's shot against the bar, it was harder to miss, I would have thought. I really need to look at that again to see how it was possible. "But I'm obviously delighted as well with a clean sheet." Appleton added: "It was about taking responsibility, individually and collectively, and I thought we managed the game well. We played it slower when we needed to and we defended well and saw it out comfortably in the end." Oxford gave a debut to left back Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, 19, who was signed on loan from Charlton. And Holmes-Dennis created the opening goal with a superb crossfield pass for Hylton to slip in Barnett, who finished impressively. "Tareiq's a good player," Appleton said. "He's really highly thought-of at Charlton and came with a big recommendation. "Tyrone worked ever so hard today. His goal has been coming, he scares the life out of defenders and we really missed him when he wasn't able to play last week. "If it wasn't for two fantastic saves by big Peter Brezovan, Tyrone would have had a hat-trick." Defeat left Rovers bottom as new boss Micky Adams watched from the stands before he takes charge for the first time in their home game against Mansfield on Tuesday. Interim caretaker player-manager Matt Gill, who was substituted at half-time, said: "It was obviously a disappointing result and we have to draw a line under it as quickly as possible. "Micky Adams had a bit of input before the game, and at half-time with the substitutions, and he's got every right to - he's the new manager. "We know we've got loads to work on. All the lads know they have to impress the new boss and that everyone needs to do more. "We're having a tough time and we need to turn it around very quickly. "The new manager wants us to work harder, be more organised, and obviously to be more of a threat in front of goal. "We're doing OK between the boxes, it's what happens in the two boxes that we've got to work most on. "But the new manager will know what to do to turn things around, I'm sure. He's a very experienced manager." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts