Colchester United manager Tony Humes admits his players are not taking enough "individual responsibility" after they were beaten 3-2 at Northampton Town tonight to go out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The U's have now gone seven league and cup games without a win this season, after Marc Richards' strike five minutes from time knocked them out of the competition at the first-round stage at Sixfields.

Humes said: "We do the footballing things very well and the nice things very well.

"But when it comes to doing the horrible things, we're not good enough at this moment in time to do what we do and that's down to individual responsibility.

"We coach them into how we want to play which they can do very well.

"But when it comes down to the easy way we're conceding goals, we can't stop it.

"We dominated a lot of the game but we're not doing the dirty bits well enough.

"It's up to the players taking that decision on the pitch to stop whatever is happening.

"It's the individual mindset of players."

Colchester showed plenty of attacking intent against Northampton, with Macauley Bonne scoring in each half.

But they ultimately had nothing to show for their endeavours by the end, as they went out of the Trophy at the first hurdle once again.

"We created a lot of opportunities but you have to be ruthless and take your chances if we're going to be as soft as we are," added Humes.

"But first and foremost, we can't go on conceding goals like that."

For coverage of the U's game at Northampton, see Wednesday's Daily Gazette.