THEY showed in magnificent fashion that they could do it against Spurs.

But could Colchester United do it on a wet Saturday afternoon in Macclesfield?

That was always going to be the question inevitably asked of their players, following their Carabao Cup exploits.

The U’s quickly went from playing to a full house against Premier League opponents to a long trip to a rain-drenched Moss Rose, on a boggy pitch, in front of the EFL’s lowest crowd of the day.

The contrast could hardly have been starker.

It was a similar scenario to the one that faced Colchester earlier in the month, where they followed up their cup shock at Crystal Palace with a long trip to play Oldham Athletic.

On that occasion, the U’s came away with an impressive win.

This time around, they had to be content with only a point.

The extent to which the physical and emotional application that went into beating Tottenham Hotspur affected Colchester at Macclesfield is perhaps subjective.

But John McGreal was certainly not using his side’s midweek cup exertions as a reason for their rather flat first-half display and their receipt of a single point, rather than all three.

“I don’t think it’s the case - I’m not using that as an excuse,” said the U’s boss.

In a bid to freshen things up, McGreal made four changes to his Colchester starting line-up for the Macclesfield game.

He also changed formation, switching to three at the back with wing-backs for the first time this season.

It was a pretty bold move by the U’s head coach.

And although it did not work as he would have perhaps liked in the first half, the visitors’ display after half-time was a big improvement.

Courtney Senior made a difference after coming on at the break.

Of the two sides, it was Colchester who arguably looked the more likely to snatch a winner.

In the end, it was a decent point away from home.

It is one defeat in 11 now in all competitions for the U’s, who are looking hard to beat.

They can be satisfied with an eight-point return in September – along with a historic cup win against last season’s Champions League finalists - as they enter a brand new month where there is the promise of more league points and a Carabao Cup quarter-final spot up for grabs.

It's a home game against bottom club Stevenage - winless in 11 league attempts so far - next up for in-form Colchester, who sit two points off the play-off places.

It’s all to play for and McGreal could also soon be boosted by the return of Harry Pell and the availability of Callum Harriott, which would be a huge filip for the U’s.