Assistant manager Paul Raynor admitted Crawley were hard done by after they were sunk by an injury-time winner against leaders Oxford.

Reds were well worth the lead given to them by midfielder Thomas Pinualt in the 17th minute.

But in an explosive finale Adam Chapman equalised before substitute James Constable headed a 94th- minute winner having seen his penalty superbly saved by Simon Rayner in the last minute of normal time.

Raynor said: “There are some very disappointed players in our dressing room because we did not deserve that.

“The players gave absolutely everything and we deserved something from the game. Teams at the top tend to get the breaks and they could make changes off the bench which made the difference but it feels like a very cruel game at the moment.”

Boss Steve Evans’ selection woes had eased slightly with the return of skipper Adam Quinn after suspension and left-back Sam Rents, who had missed six games with an ankle injury.

His bench was still full of youngsters while Oxford could afford to leave top scorer Constable out of the starting line-up.

But if there was a big difference in the quality of the respective squads it was certainly not evident in the first half which the home side dominated once they had taken the lead from the game’s first clear-cut chance.

Mikey Malcolm and Simon Rusk combined superbly down the right and Malcolm whipped in a low cross which Charlie Ademeno poked goalwards. Oxford keeper Ryan Clarke failed to hold on and Pinault reacted before a clutch of defenders to slide in his first goal of the season.

Oxford responded immediately and would have equalised had Simon Rayner not clawed out Jack Midson’s close-range shot with a strong right hand.

It was a rare moment of concern for the home defence however and just before half-time hey twice went close to extending their advantage when Ademeno flashed a shot across the face of goal before Smith teed up Pinault 25 yards out and he brought out the best in Clarke with a drive which swerved through the air before it was pushed out to safety.

Oxford boss Chris Wilder’s thoughts on his side’s first half performance were evident when he sent his side out for the re-start five minutes early and hauled off his captain Adam Murray and Midson.

It had the desired effect as Oxford created three good chances in the first ten minutes of the second half.

Ademeno, who had taken a whack to his left shin in the first half, was withdrawn and his replacement Eddie Hutchinson was not far away from making an instant impact against his former club when Clarke failed to hold Lewis Killeen’s snap shot from just inside the box.

Reds might have thought it was going to be their night 15 minutes from time when substitute Onome Sodje’s shot crashed off the underside of the bar, hit Simon Rusk on the line and bounced into the hands of the grateful Rayner.

But seven minutes from time full-back Chapman drilled a low right-foot shot through a crowded penalty area and into the far corner.

Rayner looked as if he had crowned an outstanding performance with a point-saving stop when he dived to his left to keep out Constable’s penalty after he had been pushed in the back by Karl Broadhurst.

Malcolm should have won it in the 90th minute when he chipped wide with only Clarke to beat and Malcolm and his team-mates were left stunned moments later when an unmarked Constable met Kevin Sandwith’s left-wing cross with a thumping near post header for his 15th goal of the season.

Crawley: Rayner; Rusk, Broadhurst, Quinn, Rents; Pinault, Wilson, Smith, Killeen; Ademeno (sub Hutchinson 65), Malcolm. Subs not used: Lokando, Carter, Jordan, King.

Oxford United: Clarke; Chapman, Creighton, Perry, Sandwith; Bulman, Murray (sub Potter 45), Green (sub Sodje 62), Midson (sub Constable 45), Cook. Subs not used: Turley, Day.

Attendance: 1,319.