Tony Humes says his Colchester United players are brimming with confidence following their FA Cup triumph over Peterborough United.

And the U’s boss has praised his side for the manner in which they bounced back from their mauling at MK Dons, the previous week.

Colchester went into their second-round tie against Posh on the back of three straight defeats and a 6-0 drubbing at stadiummk.

But they produced a much-improved display to win 1-0 and progress in the FA Cup, something that Humes hopes will now help their League One form.

Colchester host Rochdale this weekend and boss Humes feels his players will head into the game on cloud nine, following their cup heroics.

Humes said: “What it’ll do for them bouncing back from a heavy defeat is it’ll give them more confidence and more belief.

“The clean sheet was huge after conceding six goals.

“It’s not a nice feeling to lose 6-0 but it does steel you and the players.

“You want your players to work hard and correct it.

“It makes you realise that you have to work harder and it’s their profession - it means an awful lot to them.

“They showed that by sticking together and working harder.

“It was a fantastic response in terms of the work-rate and making sure that we don’t get rolled over again - that was the biggest thing.

“It wasn’t the prettiest of performances, as our ball retention wasn’t great and we didn’t utilise our outlets as quickly as we should have done.

“But we’ve won the game of football and all you can do is take the positives out of it - the be all and end all is that victory.”

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