Karl Robinson said Charlton switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation to prevent Oxford United from “dominating the game”.

The former Addicks boss, who left The Valley before joining the U’s last March, believes Bowyer’s tactical switch showed “tremendous respect”.

But while Robinson hailed his team’s performance, which ended Charlton’s 11-match unbeaten run, he also thinks Oxford should’ve scored more goals in the closing stages.

READ: Bowyer: Charlton's hopes of a top two finish are over after Oxford defeat

He said: “The amount of people they [Charlton] brought, the attendance of our [Oxford] fans, the noise level of our fans, two really good footballing teams who really play for the football clubs.

“They changed their system for the first time all season to stop our team of players dominating the game, which is tremendous respect.

“They've played a diamond [4-1-2-1-2 formation] in every game this season and they changed for us.

“We've still got five, very key, players not involved in our squad. We did say, when everybody's fit, we're not a bad footballing team.

“When you look at some of the performances that we've actually put on here, Luton only beat us because we had a man sent off, and he got sent off very early on in the game in the second half.

“We've beaten Portsmouth here, we should've beaten Sunderland here, and now we've beaten Charlton Athletic here. We should've beat Barnsley here as well.”

READ: Player ratings from Charlton's defeat to Oxford United

Contrary to Robinson’s comments, this wasn’t the first time Bowyer has opted for a different formation to his preferred 4-4-2 diamond system.

Examples include when Charlton fielded a 3-5-2 formation in their first league game this season at Sunderland, before going for a 4-3-3 at AFC Wimbledon.

And Josh Parker’s introduction appeared to help revert the Addicks back into a 4-4-2 diamond after they used a 4-2-3-1 in the first half against Oxford.

Nonetheless, Robinson remains pleased with how the U’s responded to going a goal down before goalkeeper Simon Eastwood was sent off.

READ: Report: Oxford 2 Charlton 1 - Addicks' 11-match unbeaten run ends in dramatic fashion

He added: “Listen, the goals were excellent. Jack Stevens being the 100th academy player to make his debut, there's not many better times to do it, and the save that he pulled off in the second half was brilliant.

“Our form is top six. It just shows you what might have been if we had these players fit throughout the course of the whole season.”