Colchester United’s players and management held a frank and open discussion about their poor form in the immediate aftermath of their heavy home defeat against Rochdale.

The entire U’s squad spent around half an hour in the changing room following the 4-1 loss at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, after falling to a fifth successive league defeat.

Gavin Massey, who came off the bench to score Colchester’s consolation goal against Rochdale, said every player had their say about the team’s slump in form.

He said: “We’ve had a long talk about it and we need to turn things around.

“I don’t want to go into too much detail about what was said in the dressing room.

“But to be fair that kind of discussion should happen, after performances like that which you can’t accept.

“Everyone had their say and that’s the players who played (against Rochdale) and the players who weren’t playing.

“We’ll keep it in the dressing room but we know we need a performance.

“We have to look at ourselves and question if we’re working hard enough.

“It all comes down to training and what you do day in, day out.

“That reflects your performance on a Saturday.

“Training has been class and the tempo has been really good.

"It’s just that something hasn’t clicked which we want to put right.

“We’re capable of winning football games and once we get things right, we’ll have to kick-start our season.

“We’re all disappointed and are desperate to put things right because no-one wants relegation on their CV.”

For more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news, see Monday's Daily Gazette.