SOUTHEND United’s under 23 coach Craig Fagan was left ruing a subdued second half showing in his side’s 3-1 defeat at Oxford United.

Blues started the EFL Central League Cup south group clash brightly and opened the scoring with Jon Benton firing home.

But Oxford hit back after the break to leave Fagan frustrated.

“We started the game well and managed to score first which was good,” said Fagan.

“You tell the lads well done at half-time and to keep it tight but from the kick off they put a long ball forward, won the second ball and the two midfielders didn’t block the shot.

“I think Callum (Taylor) knows if the shot came again he would fancy his chances to save it because it was down the middle of the goal but it set us back a little bit.

“It was after about 11 seconds and it knocked us a bit.

“The wind was in their sails after that and they were decent in the second half.

“We never matched the battle and that was sad to see.”

But there were still positives for Blues including another goal for in-form midfielder Benton “He scored a good goal and he’s got good ability with the ball,” said Fagan.

“He just needs to work on the other side of his game now and be in the right areas for the team.

“But it’s been an excellent start for him in terms of goals per games.”

Benton’s latest goal came in the 36th minute when Issa Mpenga teed up the midfielder who fired home from the edge of the penalty area.

However, Oxford equalised immediately after the break with Joel Cooper smashing a 30 yard shot through Taylor’s gloves and into the back of the net.

The home-side went in front in the 57th minute with Osei Yaw scoring via the inside of the right post and their win was sealed four minutes from time with Cooper scoring his second goal of the game.

Southend United U23s: Taylor, Chandler, Osimeh (Eastwood 85), Stewart, Mitchell-Nelson, Howard, Kinali, Cooper (Balogun 65), Mpenga (Unwin 57), Benton, Adedoja (Sankoh 65)