Colchester United were beaten 1-0 at home by Morecambe on Saturday. Cole Stockton's second-half header proved the difference between the two sides, at the JobServe Community Stadium.

The defeat leaves the U's two points adrift of the play-off places, in League Two.

A failed response

COLCHESTER United had been looking for a big reaction against Morecambe, seven days on from defeat at Crawley Town.

Sadly, it failed to materialise.

If anything, their dire performance against the Shrimps was worse than their disappointing second-half showing at the Broadfield Stadium.

The U’s must now pick themselves up again, only this time they have less time to recover.

John McGreal’s side head to the league leaders Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night, intent on avoiding a third successive defeat.

Blunt attack

JOHN McGreal once again picked an attack-minded Colchester line-up.

So the fact that the U’s managed just two shots on target throughout the entire 90 minutes against a Morecambe side who have the worse defensive record in League Two and had kept only two clean sheets prior to their visit to the JobServe Community Stadium was one of the most disappointing aspects of the U’s result and performance.

Colchester also registered 12 shots that missed the target and they will need to brush up on their guile and decision making in front of goal, prior to their visit to Gresty Road.

Ups and downs

HAD Colchester won their last two games, it’s conceivable that they would be now breathing down the necks of the teams sitting in the automatic promotion places.

As it is, they are still perched outside of the play-off places, two points adrift of the top seven.

The middle of the League Two table is incredibly congested at present, with just four points separating seventh-placed Swindon Town and Salford City, who are 18th.

With the way the table currently is, there is potential for teams to make significant progress up the table with wins - but find themselves tumble down it with defeats.

Callum's welcome return

SADLY there weren’t too many positives to come out of Colchester’s defeat against Morecambe.

But the return of Callum Harriott in a U’s shirt at the JobServe Community Stadium was certainly one of them.

Harriott was a surprise inclusion in Colchester’s starting line-up, having only just recovered from the quad injury that has delayed his much-anticipated return.

The winger lasted nearly an hour as he continues his return to match fitness and will be hoping to feature again at Crewe.

Hanging around

IT would have been harder to take had they not won.

But Morecambe’s players were forced to stay at the JobServe Community Stadium for a lot longer than they had bargained for, on Saturday night.

The EFL’s post-match drug testers were in town, meaning the whole of the Shrimps squad had to hold back and wait for them to finish prior to embarking on their long journey back up to Lancashire.

Morecambe’s players passed the time by watching Manchester City take on Crystal Palace on the big screen outside the stadium.

The three points they secured will have no doubt softened the blow of their late departure.