Neil Harris admitted his Cambridge side should have made their domination count after being denied victory by a last-gasp Swindon equaliser.
The hosts looked set to move five points above their promotion rivals courtesy of Ben Knight’s goal in the first half.
But they missed a host of opportunities to extend their lead, with Knight firing over and then being denied by impressive goalkeeper Conor Ripley, and instead the Robins grabbed a 1-1 in the 90th minute as substitute Joel McGregor swept a first-time effort into the far corner.
“What an amazing performance against a team that’s right up there with us,” Harris said.
“We absolutely dominated. It was one-way traffic for the majority of the game. I think they had one opportunity in the first 89 minutes.
“It was one opportunity in the game really, because it was a cross that goes in the back of our net. We created chance after chance, but if you don’t take that second goal, don’t take care in that final third, then you leave yourself open at the other end.
“It is hugely frustrating because it’s not even a shot that goes in the back of our net, the lad’s even more surprised than anybody in the stadium that they’ve had a shot on target, let alone scored.
“We can’t dwell on that. We have to take the positives of how good the performance was and look forward to Monday.
“We’re right in the mix for promotion. I’ve been waiting to get to the 40-game mark because now with six to go this is where you separate the men and the boys.”
Swindon boss Ian Holloway acknowledged his side were second best but felt his substitutions paid off.
“I thought they were better than us tonight,” he said. “Too many of my lads didn’t play well, didn’t sort their passing out, didn’t make the right decisions and didn’t come out with the ball in the challenges that I would expect us to.
“Luckily we managed to only concede one in the first half. That was where I felt they got ahead of us, on top of us and we didn’t do enough about it.
“After the changes I felt things slowly came our way and we kept going. Two of the subs had a hand in the goal, which is always what you want to see.
“I’m glad we didn’t lose. We’re only two points away from them. To be five would have been a killer, so we’re still in with a shout. The next game we have, if we win it and they lose theirs we would actually be above them.”
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