John McGreal did not exactly rush out to speak to the waiting press in the aftermath of Colchester United’s home defeat against Wycombe Wanderers.

Instead, the head coach used the minutes that immediately followed the 2-1 home loss to do some number crunching.

What McGreal discovered confirmed his feeling that the U’s should have got more out of an even contest than what they got which was ultimately nothing, at least in terms of points.

Colchester enjoyed 57 per cent possession and had 16 shots compared to Wycombe’s 12, of which nine were on target.

Yet they still came away from the game empty handed.

No wonder McGreal was left in his post-match press call to lament yet again his side’s inability to deal with the key moments that arise both in their own box and the opposition’s.

Only two teams have scored more goals than Colchester in the bottom half of the table.

But their league position would undoubtedly be considerably higher, had they converted even more of the opportunities they have created.

And at the other end, the U’s have shipped 16 goals in nine matches.

Only three teams have conceded more in League Two and two of them are languishing in the bottom two.

Tellingly, Colchester are yet to keep a clean sheet so far this season.

And put simply, if you are regularly conceding goals, you are not going to win games.

Constant changes in the back line primarily because of injuries – whether it be a three or a four – have not helped matters.

But the stark truth is that Colchester’s defeat against Wycombe has left them 20th in the table, three points above the relegation zone.

Should U’s fans be worried?

The U’s have just suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time since February and have taken one point from a possible nine, in their last three games.

Defeat at Grimsby Town tomorrow night could leave the U’s in the bottom two but it is still early days.

Last season, Colchester found themselves in the relegation zone in November but ended up missing out on the play-offs by a single point.

There is a long way to go but the U’s must quickly sharpen up at both ends of the pitch, ahead of successive away games in League Two.