Greg Abbott on the U's trip
Manager Greg Abbott spoke to us about the frustrating Saturday defeat against Colchester.He said: "That’s a tough one to sum up because it’s one where we think we’ve done more than enough to be coming away with something.
“In terms of chances we’ve done more than enough to have won the game and that makes the result hard to take. We had fifteen minutes of complete madness where they have scored two goals but even after that we felt we had enough to get something.
“They’ve had their spell and got their goals and it leaves us feeling really frustrated. We maybe needed that bounce or that little bit of luck, but the fact of the matter is that we know we should be scoring from the quality of chance we created today.
“We have told the lads that the positives they take into Tuesday night is the way they kept going and the way they kept getting the ball into the box. It would be worrying for us if we weren’t doing that part of it because then we would wonder where the goals were going to come from. If we can take the level of play, because I thought we were terrific at times, into the game against Oldham then we’ll be more than fine.
“There were a few shouts for a penalty and we definitely felt that two of them should have gone our way. We didn’t get them and that’s just the way the game went for us.
“The tempo at the start was exactly what we have asked for. Colchester had to change their shape to match us and even then we were the side who looked more likely to score. There is absolutely no explanation that I can give as to why we haven’t managed to put even one of them away. It isn’t about confidence or anything like that because they are the type of chance that every single player in the group will put away nine times out of ten.
“Football is a really simple game when you break it down. If you keep them out at one end and put them away at the other end then you get the points. We haven’t done that and you just have to dust yourself off and focus on the good things for the next game, because that comes around very quickly.
“I think the really frustrating part of the game was just after half time. We told the lads that the next goal was crucial. Ten minutes into it we should have been 3-2 up and it comes back to what we have said on the radio, to the paper and now to you. We didn’t put the chances away and it is just really, really disappointing.
“We’re working hard on our defensive shape and responsibilities and the lads don’t need me to tell them that clean sheets give you a real chance of winning games. We’ve let them get down our flanks and they’ve scored because of it, but we have been much better when defending as a team in the last couple of games and we need to carry that improvement on.
“We’ve got two big home games coming up now. If we get that level of tempo and the same kind of attitude on Tuesday night then we will give them a really tough test. That has to be our aim because our fans were brilliant with us today, they clapped us off at the end, and they deserve a result on their own patch. Hopefully we’ll repay the applause and do that for them this week.”