Oxford boss Des Buckingham praised Dane Scarlett’s patience after the striker earned his team a point with a late leveller against West Brom in the 1-1 draw at the Kassam Stadium.
Scarlett headed home three minutes into second-half stoppage time after Elliott Moore nodded on Will Vaulks’s long throw-in, for his first Oxford goal.
Karlan Ahearne-Grant had fired Albion ahead in the 29th minute with a rocket shot from outside the box that fizzed into the net off the inside of the post.
Oxford’s players and manager were frustrated by some of referee Leigh Doughty’s decisions and Buckingham picked up a yellow card for dissent.
Buckingham said: “It’s massive for Dane. He’s been very patient. He’s had fewer minutes than he would have liked but then Mark Harris has been in extremely good form.
“But what we have now is three very good strikers, in Sparky, Dane and Will Goodwin, who’s injured at the moment.
“It’s about time one of those long throws came off – we don’t use them that often.
“We chucked an extra body in the box there at the end because of the time and Elliott, even with the size he is, did well to win the flick-on because they’ve got six or seven who are about eight foot tall!
“We came up against a really good side in West Brom and to be able to put on the second-half performance that we did, and to come away with a result against them, was very pleasing.
“Whether you agree or disagree with decisions, the referee is there to referee the game and leave him alone to do that.
“We need to stick to what we do well, and in the second half there was a real clear way in what we did, there was an identity to us and we didn’t panic, despite the scoreline.
“Whether it was the players who came on, or the small changes we made within the game, it took to the 93rd minute to get there, but we got there in the end.
“I apologise for my booking. There were a couple of things that I thought went against us, and I need to keep my emotion in check on the sideline if I’m asking the players to do that.
West Brom are four games without a win now, and head coach Carlos Corberan felt his team’s game management was what cost them this time.
Corberan said: “We have lost two points because of the game management in the last moments of the game because at that time you need to create more attacks and not give the ball to the opposition.
“There was one key action as well where we gave the ball to them – this is one thing I regret, and we should have managed better the last few minutes.
“We didn’t defend the long throw-in well but it wasn’t just that because in the box anything can happen.
“In the second half too we didn’t find the ideas to attack well and in the first half we had some more opportunities and possibilities but we didn’t get that second goal which would have made us not regret those last moments.”
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