WITH just a single point separating seven clubs, the Blue Square premier play-off battle is going to be the tightest in years.

And new signing Robbie Matthews believes Crawley will be in the thick of it despite losing consecutive league games for only the second time this season.

There is still the matter of the four-point deduction hanging over the club for fielding an ineligible player and Crawley will announce today whether they will appeal.

If they don’t Reds would drop to ninth place, although they would still only be four points off the top five with another 54 points to play for.

Matthews said: “I just can’t believe we didn’t win. We had two great chances before they scored including a header which I didn’t put in and if we’d have got one goal they might have crumbled.

“Their tails were up after they scored and in the last half-hour we found it hard.

“We’re still up there and I think we can make the play-offs because the squad here is very strong.”

Boss Steve Evans would agree with that last statement. The trouble is that it has been more than a month since Evans was able to field anything like his best side.

Six players were missing on Saturday although striker Jon Shaw got 20 minutes at the end and hinted that his partnership with the lanky Matthews could be a profitable one.

Matthews, who has signed until the end of the season from Salisbury, won virtually all of his aerial battles and showed a decent touch and awareness on the ball.

His record suggests he is not a prolific scorer but Evans wanted someone to replicate the role Steve Fletcher had played as the focal point of his three-man attack and a younger and more mobile Matthews fits the bill.

He said: “Robbie Matthews was man of the match for me until he ran out of steam.

“He was on loan in Blue Square south (with Havant) and no one thought he was good enough to play at this level but he was magnificent for us and will get better.

“All we lacked was that little bit of a cutting edge.

“I have got nothing but praise for my players and any neutral here will not have gone away thinking Oxford were the better side.

“We have been devastated in terms of injuries and suspensions but it’s about those who played and they were good enough to get three points, instead we got a slap in the face. But we will bounce back.”

Improving Oxford chalked up a fifth successive league win thanks to a rare goal from skipper Adam Murray, who beat Simon Rayner with an angled drive which the keeper saw late just past the hour.

James Constable had headed the best chance of a scrappy first half wide but Reds rallied after the break and squandered two great opportunities.

Simon Weatherstone stabbed the ball wide from eight yards after Matthews had set him up and then Oxford goalkeeper Billy Turley produced a world-class save to keep out Matthews’ header from point blank range.

Moments later Oxford were in front and in the final half hour they effectively smothered Crawley’s attempts to conjure up an equaliser, although, Quinn had his head in his hands in injury time when Turley dived full length to keep out his header. It was one of those days for the home side.

Still, all is far from lost. Evans has re-vamped his squad during the transfer window by bringing in four players and releasing three, the latest departure is Jamie Stevens who has joined struggling Northwich on an 18-month contract.

“He was just not going to get into the side and we had to be fair to Jamie,” said Evans.

“He’s been asking me every week to go on loan but if we’d done that we probably wouldn’t have played him. It’s to his benefit that he is getting a chance at a Conference club with a decent contract.”

There could be one more arrival before the window shuts and Evans is sure to freshen things up at Ebbsfleet United tomorrow when Lewis Chalmers is available after suspension to reinforce a midfield which was rather more perspiration than inspiration against a dogged Oxford side.

Crawley: Rayner, Wilson, Quinn, Wright, Rents; Bulman, Weatherstone, Gill (sub: Forrest 82); Malcolm (Shaw 71), Matthews, Pittman. Subs not used: Carter, Nayee, Raynor.

Yellow cards: Quinn (foul 44), Rayner (dissent 77), Bulman (foul 80), Shaw (foul 82) Oxford: Turley, Carruthers, Foster, Odubade (sub: Haldane 60), Murray, Constable, Batt, Willmott, Chapman, Nelthorpe (Sappleton 89), Killock (Hutchinson 45). Subs not used: Burnell, Hinchcliffe.

Yellow card: Constable (foul 21) Referee: Darren Sheldrake (Molesey).