Joe Dunne admitted he considered substituting Elliot Lee before the teenager grabbed a late, late equaliser for Colchester United in their 2-2 draw with Rotherham United.

The U's looked like they were heading for defeat at the New York Stadium, before Lee's header in the sixth minute of stoppage-time helped Dunne's side salvage a point.

U's boss Dunne said: “We were talking about whether or not to sub Elliot because we wanted to get some fresh legs on but we just felt he would nick us a goal and thankfully that happened.

“It was a good header but my players have got through a very sticky game and come through with another point.

“We didn’t play well but we got a break, which we haven’t been getting.

“We couldn’t deal with the long ball threat of Rotherham like we’d practised and they had players who really played well.

“But I’m not going to fault my players.

“We had a heated discussion at half-time but I got a response in the second half and they kept going.

“We finished with teenagers on the pitch again and they showed great character."

Colchester had taken a sixth-minute lead through Marcus Bean's fine diving header.

But goals from Matt Tubbs and Kieran Agard had put Rotherham ahead by the midway point in the first half and it looked as though the Millers would hold out for victory, until Lee struck.

Dunne added: “Rotherham absolutely dominated the match and they’ll be desperately disappointed.

“We rode our luck at times and Alex Revell was the best I’ve ever seen him.

“They got the ball forward quickly and they got runners off the flicks.

“We’d shown our players videos and prepare meticulously for games.

“But they mixed it with some short passing moves and we had to change the shape in the end and I’m glad that we did, because we had a foothold in the match."

For five pages of coverage of Colchester United's 2-2 draw with Rotherham United, see Monday's Daily Gazette.