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."