Colchester United fan Si Collinson gives his U's views

AT full-time on Saturday, the feeling around the Community Stadium was one of frustration and disappointment.

No matter how the Wrexham game is viewed, the fact remains Colchester United were not good enough and lacked the ability to see a game out.

It is all well and good pointing to the fact that for 60 odd minutes we were the better side, kept Wrexham at bay and fully deserved our 1-0 lead etc.

But what really matters is the scoreline after the full 90 and yet again, we have lost from a winning position.

I would go as far as to say that the visitors did not win the game, but rather we lost it.

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That may sound strange, but too many times this season we have thrown games away that we have been in control of.

It is no exaggeration to say that had we kept these games in our favour, we would not be anywhere near the bottom but rather in with an outside chance of the play-offs.

Of course, there's no guarantee that we'd have won them all, but it does highlight the issue that our performance is worse after scoring than it is when we are chasing games.

That should not be the case and taking a lead, especially at home, should put you firmly in the driving seat, so why do we struggle?

There is, of course, no easy answer - no team at any level steps on the pitch to lose.

But it is inescapable that there seems to be something that happens when we take the lead.

It is not even about scoring first. For example, we came from behind to lead at home to Forest Green. only to end up drawing.

Silly fouls in areas that give the opposition a chance to get the ball into the mix is a favourite of ours, along with not picking up players at corners.

I'm not saying that I have the answer, as clearly I am only watching and not paid the money to actually make the decisions, but at corners we need to go more man to man when marking, rather than this strange hybrid of zonal and man to man.

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At the moment, there seems little command and control when we defend set pieces, giving the opposition space to exploit.

We need to implement a system where it is clear who is marking who and ensure players pick up their opponents.

This will go a long way to denying space in the box, plus make it easier to control with less confusion.

Another thing we need to get better at is the physiological side of the game and not have players vanishing in plain sight while on the pitch.

Players need to be stepping up and putting it all on the line.

No matter who has the armband, it should be up to every player to motivate those around them and ensure that standards, effort and commitment are not dropping.

It feels like as soon as we have a lead, the mindset changes, we feel our hard work is done and that we can just start to coast and see the game out, job done, three points in the bag.

In fact, it is the opposite and once we have the lead, we need to step up another gear, keep on playing and not let the other team get a sniff of a chance.

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We are cutting it fine and with only six games left, need to find a way to win matches.

It is all well and good having the games in hand but unless we step up and make them count, it will all be for nothing.

League leaders Stockport will be a stern test on Tuesday night, but if we can find a way to play the whole 90 like the first 60 against Wrexham, we could get something from the game.

Let's get behind the lads and get this season over the line the right side of the drop. Up the U’s.