JOE Dunne saluted the character of Colchester United's players after they struck late to claim an unlikely draw against Swindon Town.

Emyr Huws' stoppage-time equaliser cancelled out Harry McKirdy’s strike to seal the nine-man U's a 1-1 draw, at the JobServe Community Stadium.

Colchester finished the game depleted after goalkeeper Shamal George and Luke Chambers were both shown straight red cards in the space of 15 second-half minutes.

But the U's kept battling after that and Huws scored after substitute John Akinde had helped on Owura Edwards' corner in the closing stages, to salvage a point.

Dunne said: “It was an amazing end to a really difficult game.

“We’re just pleased that the ending was a bit better than the start of the second half and it was great to send everyone home knowing that we kept going until the very end, which is what we did.

“The bravery from the gaffer (Wayne Brown) was good, because sometimes you could say we’ll see out the game with nine men 1-0 and don’t get beat by quite a few.

“But we changed the shape quite bravely to 3-3-3 and forced the issue from a free-kick initially.

“In that situation, we all know that a set-piece can cause problems and we’re just delighted that from the second corner, it went in.

“We decided to say ‘let’s go for it’ and we were brave with it.

“It was a very difficult game and we had to stay in it for as long as we could against a really good team who are exceptional in what they do.

"Great credit to the players that they were able to stick with it.

"It's a gutsy draw to be remembered.

"The fans stuck with us and it was a difficult game for them to watch at times - we get that.

"But whether you're top or bottom, stay in the game, be resilient, dig in and when you get results like this, it can be just as good as a win.

Colchester had fallen behind in the 68th minute when McKirdy netted from Ellis Iandolo’s pinpoint cross.

"You probably want a bit more aggression to stop the cross and the movement of the goalscorer is good," said Dunne.

"He's a very good player, at this level.

"We probably could have stopped it however, they had one or two opportunities like that that they created.

"It's very difficult when you spend a lot of time without the ball and you have to stay focused.

"A lot of players at this club are still learning and the intensity to learn and to play and to concentrate is key.

"That one got away from us, at that moment."

George was sent off for violent conduct in the 72nd minute, following an off-the-ball incident with Josh Davison.

It led to teenage academy goalkeeper Ted Collins coming on for Alan Judge, to make his professional debut.

Dunne said: "I personally haven't seen it (the George sending off incident) - it's very difficult to see it on the video.

"In terms of probably appealing it, it's going to be difficult.

"He (Ted Collins) was brave as a young goalkeeper and I thought his pass that led to the corner was very good, against a high line.

"He put it into the exact position that you'd want it and he was brave coming off his line.

"It was a big ask of the kid but it sums up the group collectively today.

"We worked as hard as we possibly could and got our reward."

Colchester were left with an even bigger mountain to climb with two minutes of normal time remaining when Chambers was dismissed, after fouling Swindon substitute Jayden Mitchell-Lawson on the edge of the area.

Dunne added: "Luke was last man and it was a professional foul.

"It's bought us a free-kick outside the box and we've defended it.

"We're a bit aggrieved as we felt from the restart of the initial phase at the top end of the pitch, we thought we were through and there was a late whistle.

"But I don't think we can have too many complaints about the sending off."