COLCHESTER RUFC head coach Anthony O’Riordan believes his side are on the right track despite two opening defeats in the new season.

Colchester kicked off life in National League division three London and South East with a first day 33-23 loss against visiting Gravesand and a 36-17 reverse at Mill Road against London Irish Wild Geese last Saturday.

But O’Riordan is not too worrried about the early setback as the season still has a long way to go, starting with their first away fixture tomorrow at Chichester.

He said: “We are taking the positives out of the first two games.

“We are not out of our depth, we can score confidently and we are putting the opposition under pressure.

“We just now have to keep that pressure up for the full 80 minutes.

“Last season we knew we had time to close games down but we have to be on it now for the full 80.

“I think Chichester are a traditional side. They are big up front with a traditional pack.

“But this is a must-win game for us – irrespective of availability.”

Availabilty has been an issue for O’Riordan in the early part of this season. He added: “We didn’t publicise it last week but I think we had 22 players unavailable across the first and second teams.

“And that put pressure on us. It isn’t that the players coming in weren’t up to the standard. It’s just the synergy between a group of players.

“If you play with someone each week then you know what the player inside you is going to do and if that changes it does cause a bit of disruption.

“David Higgins at ten has been a big loss for us and he will be out for the next couple of weeks.

“Matt Wadling stepped up to the position last Saturday when he is not a ten.

“And that’s a big ask for anyone, especially an 18-year-old, against a side that was winning the division last season until the last few weeks.

“But he played very well.”

The Colchester coach is still upbeat and confident things will settle down over the coming weeks.

O’Riordan said: “I am not concerned in the slightest as we are getting things right.

“We just need some consistency.

“However, we don’t want to win at all costs – there is still a long season ahead. There is no need to panic yet.

“In the game against Gravesend, we lost that match rather than them winning it.

“We were the better rugby-playing side.

“Against London Irish we were tested in certain areas and found wanting. But we competed well.

“There are a few things that we need to work on but we only have the players for two hours a week so it might take a bit of time.”