COLCHESTER United interim head coach Wayne Brown praised the discipline of his side after their much-needed 1-0 triumph over Port Vale.

The U's are five points above the League Two relegation zone after chalking up their first home win since November, courtesy of Tom Dallison's late headed winner.

Dallison headed in from Noah Chilvers' corner in the 85th minute, to seal Colchester's first victory in seven matches.

Brown said: “It makes a change for the lads, having that feeling in the home dressing room.

“They worked extremely hard and were extremely disciplined.

“It was a really good performance, something that we’ve put a little bit of work into on Friday.

“It was all about nullifying their threat and that’s why we set up the way we did.

“We knew that they would push their two wing-backs on in advanced positions and it’s something we had to look after.

“I thought we could have been better on the ball at times but we knew with their expansiveness that there would be spaces to exploit.

“It was all about the lads keeping the belief and keeping the discipline, because we knew that we were always going to get a chance and that proved the case.

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“We’ve all got to stick together, keep the faith and keep buying into getting three points.

"The fans were probably getting frustrated and I could hear them behind me saying 'you need to make a change, we need to win the game'.

"And it's only natural for them to think like that.

"But all I would say is try and keep the faith.

"I don't want to be a negative on the lads.

"We've all got to stick together and we've all got to keep the faith and keep buying into ultimately getting three points.

"Thankfully, we did that today.

"Tuesday (against Leyton Orient) felt like a loss but it was another point on the board after getting robbed.

"Today they're going home with a win and hopefully they're in better spirits now than they were on Tuesday."

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Dallison headed in past Vale's on loan Ipswich Town keeper Thomas Holy for the winning goal.

Holy played at Ipswich with the likes of Luke Chambers, Freddie Sears and Myles Kenlock and Brown revealed that helped, in their preparations.

"We've had people in our environment who have worked with the keeper," said Brown.

"We knew his strengths and weaknesses; albeit he's a giant but we knew that we could put him under pressure, in certain scenarios.

"That proved the case not just for the goal but in other circumstances."