Ailing Oxford United boosted their Championship survival hopes with a clinical and fully deserved away win over an abject Leicester City.

The U's, without a win in four games and 23rd in the table prior to kick off, were ahead inside four minutes when Sam Long sidefooted home from close range following a long throw.

The Foxes rarely threatened an equaliser and were fortunate to only be trailing 1-0 at the interval, with the visitors having a goal harshly ruled out for pushing at a corner.

Leicester continued to dominate possession after the break, but they also continued to create very little and Mark Harris ran through to double Oxford's lead.

And that counter-attack strike proved the clincher for Oxford's second away win of a miserable season, despite Abdul Fatawu's measured late strike giving an angry home support hope of salvaging a draw.

The anger was mirrored on the pitch as both sets of players pushed and shoved each other at the full-time whistle following a niggly contest on a freezing cold afternoon.

Oxford, who had not scored in their past two matches, were aggressive and spiky from the off, constantly disrupting Leicester's rhythm and setting the tone for a combative contest.

And, buoyed by the cleverly worked set-piece opener when a long throw was turned in by Long after Ciaron Brown's' front-post flick-on, the U's grew in confidence as they looked to protect their advantage and get a first win under new boss Matt Bloomfield.

Leicester's main threat came via the nimble footwork and pace of wide duo Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi, with the latter going close with a strike from the edge of the box that went over after a clever step inside.

Hamza Choudhury also fired an effort over, but the Foxes were poor in the final third, with a Jordan Ayew strike their only attempt on target before the break as they struggled to deal with the away side's muscular approach.

The hosts improved marginally after the interval, but the goal threat remained minimal, much to the disgust of the home support and restless boss Marti Cifuentes, who saw his side frustrated by Oxford's fine defending, impressive discipline and tireless workrate.

It was Oxford who had the better chances, Stanley Mills seeing a fierce goal-bound strike deflected over the bar and, moments later, the hugely impressive Myles Peart-Harris dragging a shot wide of the far post.

Leicester's best opportunities came in the final quarter, notably when Fatawu smashed a dangerous ball across the face of goal following a corner.

But with Leicester beginning to build some pressure, they over-committed at a corner and Harris was put through on halfway and calmly sealed a brilliant victory after rounding keeper Jakub Stolarczyk.

Fatawu's fine finish following a half-cleared corner brought hope six minutes from time but could not help prevent a defeat which leaves the Foxes six points off the play-off places.

Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:

"It doesn't matter what the score is, I want the fans to go home proud. I know they probably didn't feel that way.

"The Championship is a tough league. We need to regroup and understand the picture and move in the right direction. We need to create more.

"The expectation from ourselves is that we want to win every game. I understand it's frustrating.

"We struggled after going 1-0 down we did not move the ball quickly enough. We need to look at ourselves. There are many things we need to do much better."

Oxford United head coach Matt Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford:

"The boys were, to a man - the starters and finishers - excellent. I am so proud of them. They carried out the info we gave them to a tee.

"We showed heart, guts and determination and no lack of quality because, let's not forget, we had a goal disallowed that shouldn't have been disallowed. I told the referee it was a mistake but at least we can discuss it on the back of a win.

"We also had a couple of chances in the second half and there could have been another couple of goals on our tally.

"The players have to take all the praise. They were absolutely top-drawer. But this is just the stepping stone. We have done nothing yet.

"We need to make sure we come out of the transfer window to attack the last part of the season."