Colchester United boss, John McGreal, admitted that his side “cannot buy a goal” at the moment, following this afternoon’s damaging 2-0 defeat at Bury.

A second-half brace by striker Dom Telford sealed the U’s fate at Gigg Lane, against a Bury side who had lost their previous three matches.

The U’s have now lost five of their last six matches, and not scored in any of those five defeats – the one highlight was a 1-0 win at Cambridge.

With results elsewhere not going for the U’s either, they find themselves five points adrift of the top seven with just four matches remaining.

“We cannot buy a goal at the moment, while individual errors are costing us at the other end,” rued McGreal.

“I thought our first half was one of our best performances of the year, against a top team at this level.

“We had eight or nine shots in the first half, while Bury didn’t have any. But we couldn’t take any of those opportunities.

“We certainly didn’t lose that game tactically, instead it was mistakes that cost us, not picking up from a corner and not clearing our lines.

“We bossed the first 20 minutes, and kept that going until half-time, but we couldn’t make it pay inside the 18-yard box,” added McGreal.

Skipper Luke Prosser was helped off midway through the second half, and McGreal confirmed: “Luke has injured his ankle. It’s very sore and he is in a lot of pain at the moment.”