Magnus Okuonghae, on behalf of his bedraggled and beaten team-mates, has apologised to Colchester United fans and everyone else attached to the Essex club, after Saturday’s dreadful 4-0 home defeat to relegation-haunted Notts County.

Okuonghae had led out the U’s team, full of hope and expectation against the division’s then-bottom club, as the deputy skipper in the absence of the suspended Brian Wilson.

But the U’s centre-half was left distraught after a disastrous 4-0 defeat.

He was part of a defence that leaked four goals, and also squandered the team’s best chance of scoring when blazing over the bar with the score at 2-0 early in the second half

“It was extremely disappointing,” admitted Okuonghae.

“We started the game well enough, and had a few chances, which maybe we should have taken.

“And then they score and we seemed to wilt, which is unlike us.

“We’ve been very good at coming back from 1-0 down this year, but the manner of the defeat, and the way we ended up losing, is extremely hard to take.

“We apologise to the fans – they are going to be disappointed – and we apologise to everyone connected with the club.

“That’s not good enough.

“It’s not good enough for the shirt, it’s not good enough for the club, and it’s not good enough for the town.

“But it is just one football match. We have to pick ourselves up.

“We can’t let these things absolutely just shape our whole season,” added Okuonghae.

Referring to his own missed scoring chance, when blazing over on 51 minutes, Okuonghae said: “I had a great chance, and I take responsibility for it.

“If I put that away then I think they are on the back foot for the rest of the second half.”