Forwards never turn down the chance to score a goal.

But Oxford striker James Constable said that he did, briefly, consider going down for a penalty when he found the net against Crawley last week.

Beano nipped in between Pablo Mills and keeper Scott Shearer to tap into an open net from six yards.

But with Shearer pulling him back as he prepared to shoot, Constable said that it did cross his mind to go down.

“I did think about it, yes,” he said. “But it’s a split-second decision and when you have an open goal in front of you, that was always going to be my option.

“The keeper may have got sent off and it may have changed the game, but the referee may have not done that, he may have not given a penalty, so it was definitely best to make sure we scored.”

Constable added: “It was a disappointing result at Crawley, and we are all determined to put that right against Cheltenham.

“It will be really tough though because they are third and going really well, but we all want to put an end to this sticky patch we are in and get some momentum going again before Christmas.” l