Tonight's (Tuesday) home game against Peterborough cannot come quickly enough for Colchester United boss Steve Whitton.

The angry U's chief is demanding a reaction from his players after watching them crash to a disappointing two-goal defeat at relegation-haunted Bristol Rovers.

"The quicker the next game comes the better," said a frustrated Whitton.

"We let ourselves down badly at Bristol and frankly got what we deserved nothing."

The result is particularly disappointing for Whitton because Rovers, who were playing their fourth match in eight days, are now only six points behind the U's.

A win would have put the U's 12 points clear of the west countrymen and out of sight of Division Two's bottom four for another season.

"That is why Saturday's result was such a disappointment," said the U's boss yesterday (Monday).

"A win at Bristol would have taken the pressure off us, but if we don't buck up now we could still find ourselves sucked into the relegation dogfight.

"What other clubs below us achieve in today's programme has no bearing on my outlook.

"I'm only interested in what we do and I want a big reaction from my players against Peterborough tomorrow night."

Whitton said: "We ran around and competed with Bristol Rovers on Saturday, but with little conviction in our play.

"They won because they wanted it more than us. We should all be disappointed with our performances. Effort-wise we matched them, but football-wise Rovers were mentally and physically sharper and there was a sharpness about their overall play that sadly was missing from our game.

"Defensively we played very well, although we continually gave the ball away.

"And I thought we were going to get lucky and get away with a draw having reached the 85th minute with the score still goalless.

"I felt it was always going to be a case of whoever scored the first goal would go on to win.

"Rovers got what they deserved because they performed like a side playing for their lives. On this display I can't understand why they are near the bottom."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.