Colchester travel to play AFC Wimbledon in League Two

The U’s conceded in the 89th minute to lose at Stadium MK on Boxing Day, resulting in a sixth defeat in their last seven matches.

Colchester lie six points above the relegation zone and have no time to dwell on the defeat, with a trip to AFC Wimbledon next up tomorrow night.

And skipper Hall says the U’s must respond in the right way to the setback of suffering a painful defeat.

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Hall said: “We put our bodies on the line; we’ve got to defend like that for the rest of the season now, to give ourselves a chance of staying up.

“We’ve got to fight, we’ve got to pick ourselves up and that’s what it’s all about.

“The teams that stay up in this division will be the sort of teams that get knocked back by defeats in the last minute and then pick themselves up and go again and respond with a win.”

Colchester looked like they were heading for a hard-earned away point, at MK Dons.

However, Ellis Harrison came off the bench to score a late winner for the hosts, leaving Matty Etherington’s side empty handed.

“We were always going to have a lot of pressure on us, towards the later stages of the game,” said defender Hall.

“It was about trying to grind out, staying composed and trying to defend for our lives which we did for the majority of the game.

“It’s a free-kick; should we not have conceded it? The ball is in the box, there’s a free man and he’s put it in.

“We’re absolutely gutted to lose a game like that but we’ve got to pick ourselves up again ready for our next game.

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“Yes they’re a good side and we put our bodies on the line.

“We were hard to break down; yes, we rode our luck at times but so did they on the counter attack.

“We had chances in the game where maybe the end product, the last ball or shooting, there could have been a bit more composure.

“They’re the fine lines; we didn’t find that and they managed to find theirs from a set piece.”

Hall made a second start for Colchester in the space of four days after returning from a six-week injury lay-off.

The 30-year-old, who played for 83 minutes against MK Dons, had been sidelined following hernia surgery.

He added: “I need a few more weeks I think (to play 90 minutes).

“The turnaround has been too quick I think.

“There’s four games in 11 days or whatever.

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“Ideally, I didn’t really want to be playing 60 in the first game back and then against MK Dons, I was looking at probably the same but played 80 and was cramping up and couldn’t carry on.

“I’ll see how we rest up and hopefully I can be involved against Wimbledon.”