KARL Robinson praised another step in the right direction after Oxford United’s 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

The head coach revealed after the game he could not pick his team until 11.30am on Saturday after the camp was hit with a bout of food poisoning which affected half-a-dozen players.

But while they did not take the three points their performance merited, Robinson was thrilled with what his players had produced.

And coming off the back of wins against Burton Albion and Newport County, it meant a tough opening month of the season had ended with an excellent week.

He said: “We showed grit, determination, style, class.

“I’m still not happy. I still think we move the ball relatively slowly at times.

“We’ve got to be a little bit better in so many positions, But it’s getting there slowly.”

He added: “I think 90 per cent of the league will not get what we’ve got here, regardless of how you get it. So, it’s a bonus.

“This is a Premier League club and we’ve come here and for the first 20 minutes we were class.

“Let’s not get carried away with the sending-off. When it was 11 v 11 I thought we were the better team.”

But Robinson did not see the result at the Stadium of Light as a turning point.

“No, it turned in the summer,” he said.

“Everything we’re doing is building all the time. It’s a slow progression but since we’ve been in the training ground we’ve not lost.

“We’ve been able to train and do the gym work, do our recovery properly and do all these things in the right way like a professional football club.”