Chris Wilder praised young defenders Steve Kinniburgh and Leigh Franks as his Oxford United side kept up their unbeaten away record at Cheltenham last night.

The U’s ended up with a very youthful side, and a defence with an average age of 21, as Kinni-burgh and Franks came in for their Football League debuts.

Regular left back Anthony Tonkin was ill, giving Kinniburgh his chance, and Franks stepped into the breach when acting captain Mark Creighton hobbled off with a toe injury in the first quarter of an hour.

But the kids did brilliantly, and Oxford battled back from a disjointed first half to dominate the second and earn a deserved 1-1 draw thanks to Jack Midson’s third goal of the season.

“I'm delighted we got something out of the game,” said manager Wilder.

“In the first half we were a bit naive. Our two midfield players are young and love going forward, but we lost our shape and discipline.

“But the second half was a completely different game and we controlled the ball from the 46th minute until the last kick.

“Stevie, when called upon, was very good, and Franksy was excellent.

“We could have gone under tonight, because the result on Saturday (when they lost 2-0 to Bury) clearly hurt the Cheltenham manager.

“You could see from their reaction when they came out for the game how desperate they were to turn us over, but we got what we thought we should have got from the game.”

Tonkin is expected to be well again by the weekend, but Creighton’s injury will need to be assessed.

However, Wilder says he has no thoughts of bringing in a loan signing because Franks did such a sterling job.

The result leaves United 12th in League Two, with table-topping Port Vale visiting the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.