JAKE Wright acknowledged it was hard to see Scunthorpe’s celebrations this week without feeling envious as Oxford United’s season looks set to fizzle out.

A 1-0 win in Easter Monday’s clash between the sides took the Iron to the brink of promotion.

It also left the U’s contemplating another season outside the top seven, which is now five points adrift with only six available.

Wright is determined to battle on while there is still hope, however remote.

But the skipper admitted when the side had been flying high for most of the season he had envisaged taking in the sort of party atmosphere seen among the Scunthorpe fans.

“I had visions of doing this three months ago,” he said.

“It goes through your head and you think about celebrating.

“I think we should’ve been there doing that.

“It’s more than disappointing, I’m devastated with where we are at the moment.”

He added: “It’s going to spoil my summer if we’re not in the play-offs and it looks at the moment that we’re not going to be there.

“We’ll never give up and we want to win games, especially our last one at home.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Oxford United's players troop off at Scunthorpe  Picture: Dan Westwell

United’s problems stem from a prolonged slump in form over the last two months.

There have been plenty of theories put forward, from the uncertainty during the search for Chris Wilder’s replacement to plain old bad luck, but Wright sees it differently.

He said: “I think it’s simple – we haven’t defended well enough so we’ve conceded too many goals and we haven’t taken our chances.

“Defenders, midfielders, strikers, as a group we haven’t been good enough.

“But we win together and we lose together so we have to take it on the chin.”