Colchester United head coach John McGreal admitted it was a "tough" day for his side after they were beaten 4-0 at home by Portsmouth.

The U's suffered their heaviest league defeat of the season against an impressive Pompey side who consolidated their third-place position in the League Two table with a thumping win in front of a crowd of more than 6,500 at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Eoin Doyle gave Portsmouth a 1-0 half-time lead and further goals from Kyle Bennett, Danny Rose and Michael Doyle wrapped up the visitors win.

Colchester remain three points off the play-off positions with ten games to go and boss McGreal admitted Portsmouth were worthy winners.

McGreal said: “I thought that we started it quite brightly but they showed a lot of bravery at the right times and we showed a lot of naivety and took a backward step really.

“Their bravery showed more and that’s what dictated the game.

“I was quite content at half-time despite the scoreline but the second goal has killed us.

“We switched things around and made a substitution but the second goal was a bad one to give away and you’re playing catch up then.

“At 1-0, you know you’ve got an opportunity but at 2-0 you’re chasing it and they’ve picked us off.

“It was a tough day for a young team, even against a team that’s been flying away from home.

“We’ll look back and take the positives if we can and if there was any.

“We’ll look back on the tape but I’ve been confident throughout the season and I’ll stay like that and keep pushing this team on.

“Portsmouth are a good team – it would have been nice had we had our strong team against their team but it’s not been that way.

“You can’t take anything away from them – I thought they were excellent."