U's will not rush appeal decision

Kelvin Thomas replaced Nick Merry as Oxford United chairman this season

Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas says the club will not be rushed into a snap decision to appeal the five-point deduction and fine imposed upon them.

The club received news of the punishment for fielding an unregistered player at a Football Conference hearing in Birmingham on Monday.

"We'll give ourselves a bit of time. There is a lot of raw emotion about the decision," Thomas told the BBC.

Oxford were punished for fielding Eddie Hutchinson without proper registration.

606: DEBATE What could this mean for Oxford's season?

Thomas added: "We have requested a written explanation of the panel's decision. We will wait to see what the reasons are. Then we can make a clear judgement going forward."

The five-point deduction dropped the U's from 11th to 14th in the Blue Square Premier table, and 12 points from the play-offs - if a similar punishment against Crawley is upheld.