COLCHESTER United manager John McGreal says the plan almost worked after his side fell to a late 2-0 defeat to Portsmouth this afternoon.
The U's moved down to fifth place in League Two with the loss, and McGreal says a strong first half defensive display almost paid off.
"I was really pleased to get to half time, I know they had a lot of territory with the ball, we tried to get to half time and get bit of a foothold in game," he said.
"I just thought we were in the game the second half rather than the first.
"The second half was more of a to-and-fro game.
"You know it's working when they have to change their shape, and I think they (Portsmouth) changed their shape three times in the second half."
"As we have done a lot of times we've conceded two quickfire goals in the game.
"We keep saying we're going to learn, but will we? I don't know."
McGreal added that he was pleased with the efforts of his whole team.
"All of the boys put in a hell of a shift it’s just unfortunate we’ve come away with nothing from the game," he said.
"We’ve gone with a different plan today.
"You look at the personal we’ve gone with we’ve tried to frustrate them which we did.
"I thought coming into a tough game, a lot of travelling, we would try and mix it up."
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