Tony Humes insists his Colchester United players cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves following their recent dip in form.

The U’s have dropped into League One’s bottom four for the first time since early October, following three straight league defeats, Colchester boss Humes says he is not overly worried about the nature of his side’s recent disappointing results.

But he acknowledged that his players need to be braver on the ball, if they are to return to winning ways.

Humes said: “I don’t really think these are worrying times because we’re a good team and we’ve shown that we are.

“You don’t become a bad team overnight but the players have got to have believe in themselves.

“We have young players and they get confused and make mistakes because they’re learning the game but they’ve got to take responsibility.

“The players have got to be braver – they’ve got to accept the ball and move it quicker.

“Ultimately, it comes down to them - the games are coming thick and fast and we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.

“They have to be big enough and brave enough to say ‘I want to be better than that’ and prove that it (the Coventry defeat) was a one off.”

Humes made an impressive start as Colchester manager, experiencing only two defeats in his opening ten league games in charge.

“You often find that – the first ten or 12 games are very positive, you move forward and things then get difficult,” said Humes.

“That’s where we have to be a group together and ensure everyone is with us.

“All of a sudden, you get people not willing to work and that’s where it gets really difficult, so they’ve got to come in and work hard.”

Meanwhile, Humes believes new loan signing Cole Kpekawa will have gained a lot from his Football League debut, last weekend.

The teenage left-back, who joined Colchester from QPR last week, impressed on his first U’s appearance against Coventry City.

Humes added: “Cole’s a good player and that’s why we brought him in.

“It was his debut and he’ll grow from it – he looks solid and has good quality.

“He fits into what we’re doing and it was a good experience for him, which he’ll learn a lot from.”

For all of the latest Colchester United news, see the Daily Gazette.