Colchester United boss Tony Humes admitted that Saturday’s team display was the poorest, since he became manager at the beginning of September.

The U’s were humbled 1-0 at home by previously out-of-sorts Coventry City, losing to Gary Madine’s 74th minute close-range effort.

The Sky Blues, who had only won one of their previous 10 league games, were rarely threatened by the under-performing U’s.

“I wouldn’t say these are worrying times, because we know that we are a good team,” insisted Humes.

“The players have still got to have belief in themselves, and you don’t become a poor team overnight.

“But I think I can say that this was the first poor performance that we have had, over the last 14 games. We were a little better against Port Vale.

“As a new manager, I think you often find that for the first 10 to 12 games everything is very positive, and you move forward.

“Then things get tougher, which is when we have to come together as a group. It becomes difficult when someone doesn’t want to work.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We want to prove next week that this was a one-off,” added Humes.