IPSWICH Town manager Paul Lambert felt his side were "beaten by a tackle" in their 1-0 defeat at Colchester United.

The East Anglian neighbours met in a Leasing.com Trophy clash at the JobServe Community Stadium on Tuesday night.

The contest was settled by a late, fortuitous goal from Ryan Clampin.

The young full-back went in for a tackle with Idris El Mizouni, only to make such clean contact that the ball soared into the air, over keeper Tomas Holy and into the net from 40 yards.

Former Colchester boss Lambert was happy with his side's performance but felt the winning goal was a lucky one.

“We got beaten by a tackle, basically," said the Scot, whose side are top of League One.

"That might have been their first venture into our half.

"We dominated the game, from start to finish.

"We had so much dominance and so much great play.

"Colchester had a strong side out and it makes me smile how well we did.

"It’s not about the result. The result doesn’t matter.

"It’s how well we played and I was proud of my players. Really, really proud of them and happy with how they performed.

“The kids have been great - the young guys coming into the team and the lads coming back from injury.

“We’ve got so many games.

"We have meetings every morning, every day to see who we play, what teams we play or what personnel we play.

"We sit with the fitness lads and medical department and see who can play many games on the bounce and who can’t.

“So we think it out. It’s not just off the cuff.

"We’re thinking weeks in advance what teams we’ll play and what personnel we’ll play.

"The club’s in a helluva good place.”

Colchester's victory ensured they won Southern Group A and will now be assured of a home tie in the last 32.

Ipswich, as runners-up, still go through but will be away.

Lambert insists it makes no difference to him and said: “It doesn’t matter.

"It doesn’t matter whether we’re away or at home.

"We’re in good form and I don’t have a problem."

Lambert gave three players debuts, including midfielder Brett McGavin.

The 19-year-old was in from the start and is the son of former U's hero Steve McGavin, who enjoyed two spells at Layer Road, from 1992 to 1994 and 1999 to 2001.

“He’s been doing really well," said Lambert, who also handed debuts to 16-year-old midfielders Liam Gibbs and Tawanda Chirewa. Both came on as second-half substitutes.

“I put him in and he did great."

Meanwhile, Lambert says former U's full-back or wing-back Kane Vincent-Young is on the road to recovery after undergoing groin surgery.

“He’s doing really well at the moment and we’ll see how he progresses through the next week or so."