Colchester United boss Tony Humes admits his side got what they deserved after they were thrashed 4-0 at Fleetwood Town this afternoon.

The U’s were put to the sword by the Cod Army, after goals from Jimmy Ryan, David Ball, Jamie Proctor and substitute Jamille Matt gave the hosts a comfortable win at Highbury Stadium.

Humes said: “We have to question the players’ willingness to chase and get something out of the game – you have to be honest about things.

“You can’t just accept the manner of the defeat.

“There are a lot of young players who looked for help from each other but that’s not an excuse and there aren’t any excuses out there.

“If players are going to get a long career out of the game they have to work hard and we were out-worked.

“Fleetwood showed more willingness than we did and we got what we deserved.”

Colchester had their fair share of possession but it was their inability to defend key situations which proved their downfall at Fleetwood.

“We were soft at the back - we can do the nice bits of the game alright but the bits that really matter, it was more than poor,” added Humes.

“It was the basics all afternoon – we started the game pretty well and were on top for the first ten to 15 minutes but when we didn’t score that goal, we started giving the ball away and people stopped working for each other.

“If you don’t do the basics well, you get what we received.

“The only way we looked like causing them any problems was from midfielders getting strikes from outside the box.

“Nothing that we talked about was put in practice.”

For five pages of coverage on the U’s game at Fleetwood, see Monday’s Daily Gazette.