Put a striker at the top of the shopping list

COLCHESTER United’s display at Lincoln highlighted that manager John McGreal must surely have a new striker near the top of his summer shopping list.

When asked after the game at Lincoln, the U’s boss didn’t want to get drawn into revealing where he is looking to strengthen once the current campaign ends, but he did say that changes are coming.

He knows where he needs to add, but the number of unconverted chances at Lincoln must indicate that the forward department is key to his summer building.

They could have been out of sight by the time Luke Waterfall broke their hearts with a late winner had they taken some of the scoring chances.

They could have made the Imps’ late goal an irrelevance and the U’s were left ruing not making more of the opportunities they created as they paid the price late on.

That won’t have escaped McGreal’s notice, but the problem is 20-goal-a-season hitmen come at a price and everyone is chasing them.

It’s grim up north

THE northern hoodoo continued on Colchester United’s trip to Lincoln City.

Their 2-1 defeat at Sincil Bank extended an extraordinary run that has seen them go without a win on the road at a ground north of Colchester since April 2016.

With the only remaining away game being down at Exeter this year, they will have to wait until next season to break that now, but it’s still an astonishing statistic.

There can be no reason behind it as the U’s have actually picked up 28 points on the road this season – just no three-pointers north of their Essex base.

That indicates that their away form in general hasn’t been a particular issue, but they’ll need to be picking up wins up and down the country next year if they want to be serious promotion contenders.

Courtney’s instant impact was just what John ordered

THERE can surely be nothing sweeter for a manager – other than a three-point haul – than making a tactical change that pays off.

Boss John McGreal responded quickly to Colchester falling behind at Lincoln with the introduction of Courtney Senior and he was swiftly repaid.

Just four minutes had elapsed before Senior tucked the ball in after good work by Mikael Mandron.

It’s impact like that off the bench that managers demand.

They want to know that when they look behind them to see the options that their bench is offering, those options are strong ones.

Players may be disappointed to miss out on a starting berth, but they can impress as substitutes and Senior did just that with an instant impact.

So it’s League Two again then

COLCHESTER United’s defeat and Lincoln City’s win confirmed at least one thing – that the U’s play-off hopes are finally over for another season.

Players and managers will always say that they’ll keep going until it’s “mathematically impossible” to get to a points target, but fans know that hope may already have gone long before that.

In reality, the U’s hopes were distant when they picked up just two points from a run of five games against sides struggling towards the bottom of the table in February and March.

But they could mathematically have still made the play-offs and were right to keep hopes burning – however dimly.

Their result at Lincoln brought that to a close, though, and, with two games remaining, maths is no longer in the equation.

Don’t let it peter out

CONCEDING goals at any time hurts a footballer, but last-gasp ones – especially ones that tip a result as Lincoln’s did on Saturday – must sting worse than any.

There can be a mental scar that needs to be erased before the next action takes place and the U’s must put memories of Luke Waterfall’s 94th minute header out of their minds.

They most certainly cannot afford to have a hangover from that as they head into their final two games of the campaign – at home against Swindon next weekend and then at Exeter City on the final day.

Promotion dreams may have gone this year, but this is where building for next year starts and a positive end to the season can lead to a positive summer of pre-season and a positive start to next year.

The U’s players looked crestfallen at the final whistle at Sincil Bank and rightly so, but there’s no time for dwelling on that as they need to bounce straight back.

The play-offs may have gone, but there’s still plenty to play for.