Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is braced for the possibility of losing Zander Fagerson for at least a portion of the World Cup after his red card in Saturday’s exhilarating 25-21 warm-up victory over France.

The Scots produced a magnificent second-half fightback to overturn a 21-3 deficit at the break and record a morale-boosting 25-21 victory despite having the Glasgow prop sent off following a high challenge on Les Bleus hooker Pierre Bourgarit in the 50th minute.

Fagerson was initially yellow carded before having his punishment upgraded to a red a few minutes later after a review via the newly-implemented bunker system.

With just two warm-up matches remaining – away to France and at home to Georgia – the Scots fear any suspension for Fagerson could carry over into the World Cup.

“Yes, of course there’s concern when someone picks up a red card,” said Townsend. “It’s a difficult one. The contact area is so fiercely competitive.

“France are a team that like to jackal and the hooker that Zander collided with is one of the best jackalers in world rugby.

“If it’s a timing issue or a height issue, yes, we have to make sure that we don’t get those head knocks, head collisions but there was no malice or foul play. It’s more from the rugby incident of mistiming on a ruck clear so we just have to hope that the judiciary see it the same as what we see.”

Fagerson was handed a four-game ban after being sent off following a similar incident against Wales in the 2021 Six Nations, but Townsend does not believe this offence was as severe.

“I’ve seen the incident again and he does adjust his feet,” said the head coach. “The one from the Wales game he comes in very quickly and at the time it was very understandable because someone else hadn’t gone to the ruck clearance so he knew if he didn’t come in quickly, Wyn Jones would have got the jackal.

“On this occasion he did adjust his feet so there’s nothing reckless in wasn’t as much speed, it wasn’t reckless, he just didn’t get underneath the French hooker’s chest area which can happen in all the 200 ruck clears there are in a game.

“What I hope for Zander and for us as a team is that they see there is nothing reckless in there, nothing was out of control, it’s just a timing issue that he couldn’t get underneath the jackaller.”

Townsend expects to find out Fagerson’s fate before their rematch against the French in Saint-Etienne next Saturday.

“Automatically any red card would go to a hearing and we’d expect that to be done by Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said. “It would affect our plans for next weekend and our World Cup squad is announced a week on Wednesday so we’ll need to know before then.”

Scotland lost another key man in the shape of Ben White, who limped off in the first half with an ankle injury, but Townsend is hopeful that it will not cause the scrum-half to miss the World Cup.

“He’s much more positive now,” said the head coach. “He got his foot trapped under him when they kicked through, he got high tackled and got his foot trapped under him.

“It was an area where he had an issue at the beginning of our World Cup camp but he’s been training fully now for the last six weeks and in initial testing (after the game) it seems OK.

“He’s off to hospital just to make sure there’s nothing in the scan so fingers crossed that he’s OK. It might be that he struggles to train this week but hopefully he’ll be available for the World Cup.”

Townsend was proud of the way his 14-man team recovered to win the second half 22-0 after being outclassed by a second-string French side in the first half.

“Even though these are not Six Nations or World Cup games, it is a Test match in front of almost 60,000 people, so we know our job is to win,” he said.

“And when you are defending your line at the end, thoughts go through your head about whether we are going to hold out for the win.

“It was such an encouraging second-half performance and victory that it would have been a big blow if we hadn’t got that win.

“We showed much more of who we are in that second half, both in attack and defence. To do it with one less player for the majority of the second half is going to be really positive for the players’ level of belief.”

England’s began their final phase of World Cup preparation in horribly underwhelming fashion as Wales sent them spinning to a 20-9 defeat in Cardiff.

Second-half tries from Gareth Davies and George North staved off a fifth successive home loss for Wales as England boss Steve Borthwick was given plenty to ponder less than 48 hours before he names his World Cup squad.

Few players left lasting impressions, although there were some impressive moments from fly-half Marcus Smith and number eight Alex Dombrandt, with Wales responding superbly to a three-point interval deficit.

England were abysmal with their ball-retention, conceding a colossal 22 turnovers, and Wales did not require a second invitation to capitalise.

Full-back Leigh Halfpenny marked his 100th cap by converting both tries and kicking two penalties, with Smith kicking England’s points through three first-half penalties.

England’s opening World Cup game against Argentina is just five weeks away, yet Borthwick will not be reaching for any panic button with three warm-up fixtures still to come on the August schedule.

For Wales, it was a significant confidence-booster following a fifth-placed finish in last season’s Six Nations as they recorded just a third win from the last 11 Tests.

Halfpenny led out the Wales players, who wore black armbands in memory of former Wales captain and coach Clive Rowlands following his death last weekend at the age of 85.

Wales suffered an early injury blow when hooker Ryan Elias was forced off after taking a blow to his right leg, with Dragons forward Elliot Dee replacing him.

A long-range Smith penalty nudged England ahead, rewarding initial dominance as the visitors monopolised possession and territory, putting Wales firmly in back-foot mode.

Smith soon doubled the advantage when Wales were guilty of a scrummaging infringement, but a Halfpenny strike made it 6-3 towards the end of an opening quarter high on intent, yet littered with errors.

Wales fly-half Sam Costelow created the game’s first clear-cut chance 15 minutes before half-tine when his inside pass freed wing Louis Rees-Zammit, but he slipped with England’s line at his mercy.

It was much better from Warren Gatland’s team and Halfpenny deservedly drew them level through a 26th-minute penalty.

England responded through some clever work from Smith that created space for centre Joe Marchant, before wing Joe Cokanasiga was tackled into touch near the corner-flag.

Despite conceding 12 turnovers during the first 35 minutes, England remained on top, while there were also scrummaging issues for Wales as debutant props Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti had a testing opening half.

Smith completed his penalty hat-trick to make it 9-6 at the interval, yet England knew they needed to sharpen their attacking edge in the second period.

The game required a spark and Wales duly found one just eight minutes into the second period.

Costelow’s kick found number eight Aaron Wainwright and his one-handed pass was collected by captain Jac Morgan, who brushed off challenges from Cokanasiga and replacement Jonny Hill before a supporting Davies touched down.

It was a try of outstanding quality and Halfpenny’s conversion opened up a four-point lead before Gatland made four changes.

The new arrivals included debutants Taine Plumtree and former England prop Henry Thomas, who qualifies for Wales through his father.

Thomas was able to switch countries under new World Rugby regulations which mean players can feature for their country of birth – or their parents’ or grandparents’ birth – provided a minimum period of three years has elapsed since they were last selected for an adopted country.

Borthwick also rang changes midway through the third quarter, introducing international newcomers Theo Dan and Tom Willis as England looked to reassert themselves in the contest.

But Wales were a team transformed after the break and when North crossed for his 45th try in the red shirt England entered the final quarter 11 points adrift.

Wales were within inches of adding a third try during the closing minutes, but Rees-Zammit knocked on behind the line under pressure from England full-back Freddie Steward.

The damage, though, had long been done ahead of next Saturday’s return fixture at Twickenham.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was relieved to see his side snatch a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol Rovers.

Debutant Kusini Yengi scored a stoppage-time goal to salvage a point after Luke Thomas had given Rovers a first-half lead.

“There are mixed emotions in the dressing room at the moment,” Mousinho said.

“If you had offered me a point with five minutes to go, I would have been happy to take it.

“We need to get a lot more shots on target and take advantage of some of the areas we get into.

“The goal came from probably the best cross we made all game.

“We will look back and reflect on not getting all three points.

“I felt that Rovers were a decent side. For their goal, we gave the ball away in the middle of the park. They broke quickly off of that and capitalised. They showed what they are capable of if they get a sniff of a chance.”

“They defended their box very well in the second half, but I was very pleased for Kusini with his goal.”

Constant heavy showers made playing football difficult, but Rovers forced the early pressure and took the lead in the 24th minute.

Pompey lost the ball in midfield and a quick break and a cross from Jevani Brown saw Thomas sweep the ball home.

His strike looked like it would be the winner but substitute Yengi saved the day for Pompey two minutes into added time.

Bristol Rovers coach Andy Mangan felt that a draw was probably a fair result.

He said: “Ours was a fantastic goal. We’d already had a couple of counters before that.

“We’ve kept them out whilst under a lot of pressure, especially in the second half, until the 92nd minute.

“On another day we would have taken all three points, and the lads are devastated to have conceded that late on.

“The lads should take a lot of confidence from their performance today. To come to Fratton Park and play the way we did at times, there are a lot of positives.

“We have to be deadly on the counter. I felt it let us down a bit today, and that’s something we need to work on.

“Pompey are favourites to go up, so to defend and play like we have is something the lads should be proud of.”

Rangers’ cinch Premiership title challenge suffered the earliest of blows with a shock 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock in the opening day of the season.

Michael Beale’s disjointed side had laboured in the first half at Rugby Park and there was no improvement after the break before they were stunned by Brad Lyons’ counter after 65 minutes.

The 26-year-old Northern Irishman pounced inside the box to fire the home side ahead and in the end it was enough to keep the three points in Ayrshire.

The defeat was a huge setback for Light Blues boss who has signed nine new players so far.

Beale knows the margin for error over 38 games in the traditional two-horse title race in Scotland is slim and there is little time for ironing things out on the training ground – the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Servette is at Ibrox on Wednesday night.

Champions Celtic began their campaign earlier in the day with a 4-2 win over Ross County at Parkhead so there was immediate pressure on the visitors to get the win, but there was a lack of cohesion in both teams, perhaps understandably.

Derek McInnes’ side had only four players from last season in the starting line-up – stand-in captain Lyons, Danny Armstrong, David Watson and Lewis Mayo, who was signed on a permanent deal from Rangers after a loan spell.

Of Beale’s new boys; Jack Butland, Kieran Dowell, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers made their competitive debuts and Brazilian striker Danilo would come on later.

Killie, with four ViaPlay Cup games under their belt already, made it difficult for the Govan side, nullifying most of the threat.

In the 28th minute, backtracking Mayo brilliantly took the ball off Dessers’ toe as the former Cremonese striker raced through from a Sima pass but the offside flag was up.

Killie keeper Will Dennis, on loan from Bournemouth, dived bravely inside his busy six-yard box to gather a loose ball from a James Tavernier corner before he saved a decent low drive from Dessers.

The 23-year-old then tipped a powerful John Lundstram drive over the crossbar for a corner which he comfortably clutched out of the air, but it was a relatively quiet 45 minutes for him and the Killie defence.

Rangers tried to press with more vigour after the break but the home side remained resolute in defence and increasingly confident when they broke.

On the hour mark, seconds after Dowell headed wide following a corner, he was replaced along with Dessers.

Todd Cantwell, a surprise omission, and Danilo came on for Rangers while for Killie, Marley Watkins made way for club captain Kyle Vassell.

And then Killie took the lead. Rangers defender John Souttar failed to deal with a long throw-in from Watson and Lyons swept the ball past Butland from six yards.

Minutes later, with the Light Blues in disarray, Butland did well to save a ferocious drive from Kyle Magennis before Armstrong curled a shot just wide.

Ryan Jack came on for Lundstram and Kemar Roofe replaced Lammers as Rangers, in some desperation, tried everything to rescue a point at least but Dennis was well-protected for the 90 minutes and the six minutes of added time.

Carlisle manager Paul Simpson believes his side could have come away with more after they started life back in Sky Bet League One with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood.

Owen Moxon opened the scoring for the Cumbrians with a 30-yard free-kick, but it was cancelled out by Brendan Wiredu’s strike just before half-time.

Both teams had chances to score the winner and Simpson was left to rue missed opportunities.

“I’m reasonably happy with a point out of it, but on reflection – and this is a real early reflection – we’ve had the chances to win the game today,” he said.

“We’ve had two really good chances in the second half, well created chances, but overall I’m really pleased to get our first point and it’s given us something to take confidence from and build for the next one.”

Moxon put the home side ahead in the 36th minute with a beautifully curled free-kick into the top left corner after he had been fouled by Scott Robertson.

Fleetwood equalised, though, in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time as Wiredu’s first-time volley flew into the bottom left corner after Huntington had headed clear Phoenix Patterson’s cross.

Jordan Gibson had a great chance to restore Carlisle’s lead just after half-time, but he miscued a shot from Fin Back’s cross with the goal gaping.

At the other end, Promise Omochere should have scored after Josh Vela’s cross broke his way, but he pulled his effort across goal and wide.

Substitute Joe Garner, formerly of Fleetwood, saw his late header saved by visiting goalkeeper Jay Lynch as the spoils were shared.

Carlisle are competing at League One level for the first time in nine years and Simpson is anticipating a tough campaign.

“We’re going to have to be fitter,” he added. “We’re going to have to be resilient.

“We’re going to have use the squad wisely and it’s going to be a real test for us.”

Fleetwood boss Scott Brown was also left disappointed by his team’s lack of cutting edge.

“They scored a fantastic free-kick and we had to dig deep to try and get ourselves back into the game, but these things are going to happen now and then,” the Scot said.

“Teams are going to score fantastic free-kicks like that, but we showed heart.

“We showed desire to get back into the game and I thought for long periods of the game we controlled the game.

“And, especially the longer the game went on, I thought we looked the fitter team.

“For myself, we’ve got to be proud of the lads on that, but we have to be a little bit more ruthless in the final third and have that little bit more quality as well because we got into some great areas.

“So it’s those small details we need to try and work on as much as we possibly can over the next couple of weeks.”

Wigan manager Shaun Maloney described Charlie Wyke as “special” after his double clinched a 2-1 League One win at Derby .

Wyke suffered a cardiac arrest during training in November 2021 and now plays with a defibrillator fitted in his chest.

Maloney was delighted with his team but acknowledged the significance of Wyke’s contribution.

“Charlie Wyke is a special case,” he said. “Any recognition he gets he deserves every single bit of it.

“What he and his family have been through I can’t put words to that really. It’s taken time for him to get in the mental condition and then physically, he’s come back in incredible shape this summer.

“From the very first days of pre-season, he felt like a different player.

“We’ve been really patient with him and I’m very, very happy for Charlie today.”

Wyke’s goals plus resolute defending and quality goalkeeping were enough to give Wigan victory against one of the promotion favourites.

Wyke seized on a poor back pass from Sonny Bradley to give Wigan the lead in the 38th minute but Derby levelled just before the hour minute through Craig Forsyth’s superb volley.

Sam Tickle denied Forsyth a second just before before Wyke headed in a cross from Tom Pearce after 72 minutes.

Derby piled on the pressure but Wigan stood firm and held on through nine minutes of added time to celebrate a win that cuts their points deduction to minus five.

Maloney was also happy with his side’s character, adding ““I couldn’t have asked for anything better really, the performance had everything.

“At times we were very good first half and then we had to suffer without the ball and had to defend in the last 20 minutes.

“I loved the heart my team showed and I know it’s the first game of the season but this one means a lot.

“The way we defended in the last 20 minutes, there’s a real satisfaction when you see your team defending with every single player putting their body on the line, they’ve got a bit of character about them.”

Derby head coach Paul Warne voiced his frustration, saying: “It’s always frustrating when you lose at home and I can’t say we played at our best today.

“There were some parts of our play that were really good and some parts which were a little bit frustrating but over the whole 99 minutes, I didn’t think we deserved to lose

“It was a pretty even game between two pretty good sides and it just came down to a couple of errors we got punished on.

“Wigan are a good side and if you give them an opportunity they are going to take it and they did.”

Charlton manager Dean Holden felt his side deserved their 1-0 opening-day League One victory over Leyton Orient.

The game at the rainy Valley was settled by a first-half strike from captain George Dobson.

Holden was pleased his outfit put in a performance in front of a bumper home crowd and believed his side could have scored more.

He said “There’s a lot of expectation of supporters turning up with a lot of optimism. It’s important they see a team like today.

“We started really well, we started with intent, we ran all over Leyton Orient – they’re a team who have obviously had a lot of success winning the League Two title last year, playing a certain style.

“They wanted to play on their terms at times, so we needed to get on top of them and force mistakes, which we did.

“We should have won more comfortably, but we looked more solid defensively which was a bit of a concern last week in the pre-season (game) against Aberdeen.

“We had a lot of work to do this week, but credit to the players for taking that on board.”

Alfie May showed excellent footwork in the area to almost net his first Charlton game after four minutes, but Sol Brynn matched his effort.

At the other end, Ashley Maynard-Brewer had to turn away a Theo Archibald effort before the half-hour mark.

The hosts broke the deadlock a minute before first-half injury time. Corey Blackett-Taylor was given too much space down the left by Rob Hunt and his low cross found the foot of Dobson.

The visitors saw Tom James have his shot after 57 minutes deflected over the crossbar as they looked for a breakthough.

Substitute Panutche Camara missed a sitter in injury time to double the Charlton lead, but the hosts held on for victory.

Leyton Orient saw defeat in their first third-tier match since 2015 and were backed by 3,153 visiting supporters.

Head coach Richie Wellens believed an error for the goal proved the difference.

He said: “In terms of performance, we got it wrong just once. We had a lapse in the 44th minute when we gave the ball away, and then we didn’t get enough bodies in to cover.

“In the second half we dominated them and had so many counter-attacks, but we just took the extra touch rather than get our shots off.

“That’s what they did well, they got their shots off and made our goalkeeper work.

“We lost the game but it was a good day for us as a whole and we’ll take a lot of confidence from it.

“The biggest compliment I can take is the reaction of their manager at the final whistle – he was relieved.”

Hearts head coach Frankie McAvoy praised his players after they overcame first-half rustiness to secure an impressive 2-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on the cinch Premiership’s opening day.

In a close game that began after a short delay with a VAR power failure, Yutaro Oda eventually gave Hearts the lead with 15 minutes to go with a superb low strike and Lawrence Shankland sealed the win deep into stoppage time with a tap-in after unselfish play from Liam Boyce.

McAvoy – who was given the job in June on a full-time basis, alongside technical director Steven Naismith – also admitted relief as the Tynecastle side started the season with a victory ahead of Thursday’s Europa Conference League qualifier against Rosenborg.

He said: “I’m probably relieved for myself and the background team but delighted for the players and the supporters who I thought were fantastic.

“They came out in big numbers so delighted we’ve managed to get the three points and keep a clean sheet.

“The VAR breaking down before the game started probably didn’t help us much and it allowed them to settle a bit and put pressure on us.

“We know we were a bit rusty. St Johnstone have had more competitive games.

“You can have pre-season games like we’ve had but it’s not the real stuff. We knew that we just needed to be at it today and we felt as the game went on we got a wee bit better.”

Hearts gave competitive debuts to new signings Frankie Kent and Calem Nieuwenhof from the start, while Kyosuke Tagawa and Alex Lowry made debuts from the bench.

Lowry signed on loan from Rangers just yesterday and he was singled out for praise by McAvoy, who was pleased with the impact of his substitutes.

He added: “We’re delighted with the impact the subs made in the game and you can see the quality they’ve added. That’s great for the squad because we need strength in depth and we need them being really competitive.

“You can see that (Alex) Lowry’s got a bit of quality. We knew that. He’s coming from a massive club in Rangers as well. We’re delighted that he wanted to come here which was pleasing.

“He had a lot of options on the table and he chose to come here which is credit to him. He had the chance to go down south but he felt like we play in the right manner.”

St Johnstone boss Steven MacLean, meanwhile, was pleased with the reaction from his players after last week’s humiliating 4-0 defeat to Stirling Albion.

Despite not getting anything from the game, Saints competed for large periods and could have taken the lead through Liam Gordon and Graham Carey before Hearts’ breakthrough.

MacLean said: “I thought our performance was a lot better. We worked very hard for each other. We’re going to be a work in progress.

“Liam Gordon had a great chance and we had another couple of opportunities as well and you’ve got to take your chances against the better teams in the league – any games in fact.

“In terms of attitude, performance and work-rate, I’m happy with them.

“I think when you look at it, it’s one long ball into the box and we don’t win the first contact and the boy scores.

“That’s the difference today. If you look at Hearts’ bench, what they had to bring on and the difference from ours.

“I’m happy with my squad and I’m happy with my team today. We’ll get better going forward, we’ll bring in some more bodies and we will improve.”

Ryan Lowe expects his Preston team to have more goal power this season following impressive starts by summer signings Will Keane and Mads Frokjaer in a 1-1 draw against Bristol City.

Keane marked the beginning of his second spell as a North End player with an opportunist late equaliser at Ashton Gate, while Frokjaer also played a key role in a determined fightback after
Sam Bell’s 47th-minute strike had threatened to give City a winning start.

Lowe was delighted with his team’s efforts and said: “Will is capable of adding 14 goals to our team this season. That’s how many he got last season and, while I don’t want to put pressure on him, I have faith in his ability to excite our fans.

“His goal was a fantastic finish, a great swivel and a shot into the bottom corner. It showed that if we give him opportunities, he will score for us.

“Mads has fantastic quality, which is why we have invested heavily in him. I see him also scoring goals, but he has to get up to speed with the Championship because it is a ruthless league.”

Lowe was also full of praise for 17-year-old defender Kian Best after a first senior appearance packed with promise.

“Kian is still only a baby and got cramp at the end,” said the manager. “But he worked his socks off and was intelligent in his passing range. His quality on the ball is different class and I have never been afraid to throw young players into my teams if they are good enough.

“I thought the whole team were fantastic. The players did all we asked of them off the ball in the first half and in the second we created enough chances to feel unlucky not to take all three points.

“Bristol’s goal worked against them in a way. We really got our backsides in gear after it and had them on the ropes, but I’ll take a point away at Bristol City, who have some very good players.”

City boss Nigel Pearson was asked about the absence from his team of £25million-rated midfielder Alex Scott, a transfer target for several Premier League clubs.

He said: “Alex developed a problem with a knee two or three days ago and he will be fine once we get the swelling down.

“When his name is not on the team sheet, people will make different assumptions, but that is the truth of the matter. Alex is injured and hopefully we will get him back for next weekend.

“Outside of that, I can’t really comment on how things will develop with Alex. We have put a valuation on him as a club and it’s important we protect our assets. I’m not saying a move won’t happen, but it has to be on our terms.”

Of the game, Pearson added: “It was a stop-start affair. We are disappointed not to win after taking the lead, but Preston created some chances and will feel they deserved something.

“It was a reminder of how tough the Championship is. They came with a plan to be difficult to break down and we didn’t use the ball well enough.

“It was largely about whether we could get our full-backs forward and on the ball. For whatever reason, they were not involved in our attacking play enough.”

Stevenage manager Steve Evans felt his side were good value for all three points after they started the new Sky Bet League One season by beating Northampton 1-0.

Boro’s first ever win at Sixfields came courtesy of Carl Piergianni’s 81st-minute close-range finish as Stevenage edged a tight game between two teams who are newly promoted into the division.

A total of 22 minutes of stoppage time were played across both halves – the result of a new EFL directive – and Evans felt his side did enough to kick off with a win.

“It’s a great way to start the season,” he said. “I set the boys four targets: to get our first clean sheet, to get our first point, to score our first goal and to get our first win. We’ve ticked all of them off today.

“I thought it was a game of two halves. Obviously conditions played a part but they were better than us in the first half.

“They have kept together a lot more players from last season and they looked more used to each other, but the elements played a part and we saw that in the second half.

“We should have been behind at half-time but the changes we made really worked and I think over the whole game we deserved to win.

“They had two one-on-ones in the first half but we created chances as well and in the second half we were the team with more purpose and more drive, certainly in terms of fitness levels, and all of the new boys did really well.”

Northampton boss Jon Brady was encouraged by his side’s first-half performance but admitted they faded after the break.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half and that was clear for everyone to see,” he said.

“We should put those chances away. We hit the post twice, we had some good entries into their six-yard box and flashed some crosses into the area.

“We controlled play really, really well but we came out for the second half and had the wind and rain in our face and it was hard for us to get out.

“They’re very good at turning the ball in behind your back-line and hurting you and they constantly do it, but to control the play we needed to be better on the ball in the second half.

“We weren’t great in possession in the second half. We need to make better decisions and show more composure in those moments because the ball was turned back to them too much.

“That was disappointing because we controlled the game so well in the first half, but you’ve got to take the positives and there was certainly a lot to be encouraged about.”

Mark Bonner felt Cambridge hit a high standard as they opened their Sky Bet League One campaign with a win.

Cambridge, who produced a great escape to survive in the third tier at the end of last season, made a perfect start to the new campaign with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.

Jack Lankester fired them ahead before a goal on debut from the impressive Gassan Ahadme saw them in control at the break and they limited Oxford to just one Stan Mills gilt-edged chance in the second period.

“I thought we were excellent; really good and really good value for the result, and I thought the performance was very strong,” Bonner said.

“The first 30 minutes was the absolute blueprint for us. I thought we were outstanding. Then second half we struggled to get out of our half a little bit but I never felt under huge pressure.

“It’s a really good result and a really good start. A clean sheet and three points obviously is important to us, but the performance level as well is really important.

“There were some really good performances out there today, so it’s a good day for us.

“I thought we started the game very well, played with some good intent with the ball, played forward but not rushed and had good control in certain moments of the game.”

Saikou Janneh, who started only once in League One last season, played a crucial role in both Cambridge goals, and he came in for particular praise.

“I thought he was brilliant, really good. He’s really built up over pre-season, exactly what we want in a wide player, showed himself to be more reliable.

“He’s getting better and better without the ball so I’m really pleased with him.”

Liam Manning felt that his Oxford side had not hit the required levels.

“The result obviously is hugely disappointing,” he said. “I just said to the players that I actually think it could be one of the best things for us, madly.

“That wake-up call, if we make sure we respond and we take the lessons from it. I think it could be a positive lesson for us.

“The game went exactly how we knew it would. How we set up, the game plan was exactly what we thought they’d do. When you have the volume of the ball that we do, nine corner kicks to two. We didn’t create a huge amount.

“Without quality in the top third, what you do is you come away 0-0. You dominate the game that way and give them nothing.

“I know we’re not the finished article, there’s a long way to go. We have to take the experience, the lesson, and make sure we don’t have it again.”

Tony Docherty insisted Dundee deserved to take all three points from a 1-1 cinch Premiership draw against Motherwell at Dens Park.

The newly-promoted Dark Blues had to settle for a share of the spoils against the Steelmen on their return to the Scottish top flight.

Motherwell debutant Theo Bair opened the scoring with a fine finish on the stroke of half-time with Lyall Cameron securing a draw for the home side after the break thanks to a headed equaliser.

Docherty was pleased with the resolve shown by his players to come from behind but he thought they deserved to win the game.

The 52-year-old said: “I was really disappointed to go in 1-0 down at the break.

“I thought we were the better team but I said to the boys at half-time to ‘keep doing what you are doing’.

“I was delighted with the response of the players and equally I was delighted with the response we got from the crowd who were right behind us. They saw us on the front foot in that second half.

“When we got the goal, we were unfortunate not to go on to win it.

“I am a little bit disappointed not to win the first home game however in the Premiership when you go behind, I think it is important you show that resolve and mentality, that you don’t give up the ghost.

“I think we showed that in abundance today.

“I feel we were the better team and should have taken three points.”

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell was delighted with Bair’s contribution after the striker signed for the Steelmen earlier this week.

The manager said: “Theo offered us a lot after just two training sessions and being nowhere near being fully match fit.

“But to get about 80 minutes was tremendous. I thought his overall game was good but can get better.

“I’m just delighted with his composure for the finish because it’s not easy when it is skipping off the surface at that type of pace.

“He’s the type of player I want to work with. His attitude is fantastic and he has some real good raw attributes. I think he’s a player that will grow in our side.”

Unlike Docherty, Kettlewell felt a draw was a fair result.

He added: “In the last 10 minutes of the game, I thought we were in the ascendancy, the team pushing to try and win the game.

“But I’d like a bit more quality from us, I’d like us to test the goalkeeper a bit more with that type of pressure. I thought we got into reasonable positions but didn’t work the goal enough.

“From that side of it, a fair point is how I’d look at it.”