Tarique Fosu marked his 21st birthday by scoring with his first touch for Colchester United in their FA Cup tie with Chesterfield.

But the on-loan winger admits his celebrations were tempered by the U’s 2-1 defeat, which saw them bow out of the competition at the first-round stage.

Fosu was brought on as a half-time substitute for Colchester against Spireites and needed only a few seconds to make his mark, scoring his side’s equaliser within a minute of the restart.

But the Reading loanee’s joy was short-lived as Chesterfield restored their lead soon after and went on to win the tie, leaving the U’s to reflect on another match that got away.

Fosu said: “It’s always good to score, especially on my birthday but the result was disappointing.

“I think I scored with my first touch, so it was good to get a goal.

“The only thing I could do from there was put it in the opposite corner.

“It was disappointing to lose – we played some decent football and we just need to defend a bit better as a team and see games out but that will come.

“We’ll be working on that in training and hopefully it’ll get better.

“It’s painful going out of the cup and we obviously don’t like losing.

“Chesterfield tried to play a bit of football but in the second half, they went a bit long.

“I felt we did really well but conceding that second goal was a bit of a killer.

“I feel like we could have won the game but we have to be mentally strong as a team and look forward to next weekend.

“We’ve been playing well and training hard.

“I feel we just need some goals and to defend better as a team and we’ll be working hard on those things in training this week and hopefully get a win.”

Fosu’s appearances for Colchester have been limited to the bench of late, with a hamstring strain sidelining the winger last month.

The youngster has appeared as a substitute in each of the U’s last three matches and is hoping his second-half display against Chesterfield might lead to him returning to John McGreal’s starting line-up.

“I’m ready for whenever, whether I’m coming off the bench or starting,” added Fosu, whose loan from Reading is due to expire in January.

“I have to work hard and help the team whenever I’m playing.

“I feel like the goals will come – I’ve scored (against Chesterfield) and hopefully I can continue making an impact.”