LUKE Norris feels Colchester United would have beaten Cheltenham Town – had a Premier League-style Video Assistant Referee been used.

The U’s felt hard done by after a controversial penalty led to them drawing 1-1 at Whaddon Road.

Conor Thomas’s second-half penalty cancelled out Norris’s opener, after Colchester keeper Dean Gerken was harshly penalised for a foul on Reuben Reid – prompting Norris to wish for VAR.

Norris said: “We don’t really have VAR or anything but if we did have that, I think we’d have won the game.

“We’ve watched their goal back and it’s not even a penalty.

“Gerks’ hands are on the opposite side to his feet.

“He’s (Reuben Reid) pushed Coms (Brandon Comley) in the back, gone past him, taken two or three steps and then fallen over.

“We’ve watched it and shown the ref and I think he’s said ‘fair enough it’s wrong’.

“They’re the home team and things like this sometimes happen when you play away from home.

“It’s always been like that in football but I think they were a bit too eager to give it really, which is a sad thing but maybe on reflection, a draw’s probably a fair result.”

Norris struck his seventh goal of the season for Colchester when he latched onto Tom Eastman’s long pass and scored.

It was the striker's fourth goal in three appearances at Whaddon Road, on his 50th league appearance for the U's.

“We knew that they had quite a high line and Easty’s got a terrific kick on him and guided it all the way,” said the former Brentford and Swindon striker.

“There was a bit of confusion with Courtney (Senior) and the defender but I stayed composed and finished it.

“Courtney could have been offside but he’s so quick and he could have been ten yards behind and still been in front of me!

“You have to stay calm in those situations and it was nice to score the goal.”

Colchester are now unbeaten in four league matches and Norris feels their draw at Cheltenham was a fair result.

Norris added: “The way the game finished in the second half, I think the result was a fair reflection.

“It was unfortunate that we couldn’t hold on for the three points but Cheltenham is a tough place to come and they’ve been flying, so we’ll take the point.

“We got the first goal which is something that I feel we’ve done really well this year.

“It gives you something to hold onto and that’s what you aim to do.

“We had a game plan and it worked for the majority of the game.”