Getting your noses in front, in a game, has never been more important to Colchester United than this season.

And that’s born out by some stark statistics as the U’s throw themselves headlong into the second half of the campaign, with promotion still firmly in their sights.

The halfway point of the season has been and gone – the U’s are now four games into the second half (27 of 46 fixtures played) – but they can still learn from their first half of contrasts.

Although they have never spent any time in the top two, John McGreal’s men spent more time in the lead, during the first half of the season, than any other League Two club, a big plus.

The U’s were leading in games for a total of 16 hours and 26 minutes, which equates to 40% of the time, during their first 23 league fixtures. MK Dons, currently second in the table, were second in this category with 15hrs and 13mins spent in the lead.

Out of interest, Yeovil – and not the regular bottom two of Notts County and Macclesfield – spent the least amount of time winning in games during the first half of 2018-19, with a mere 4hrs and 52mins (13%) in the lead.

The aforementioned Notts County (6hrs and 23mins) and Cambridge United (6hrs and 51mins), mostly under former Colchester boss Joe Dunne (before his exit) were the closest rivals to the Glovers for the wooden spoon.

But before Colchester fans get too excited, the statistics show that the U’s have struggled to get back into matches, once they have fallen behind. Quite simply, they haven’t shown enough resilience.

In fact, they only earned two points from nine relevant matches during which they had fallen behind, in the first half of the season. That’s the third worst record in the division, which is a prime reason why the U’s are currently eighth, out of the play-off zone on goal difference.

Crewe were the only club in League Two not to win a single point after falling behind, with Notts County the next worst (one point from 14) and then the U’s.

At the other end of the scale, Swindon secured more points (13) from losing positions, closely followed by leaders Lincoln (12).

- This research was provided by bookmaker bwin. https://sports.bwin.com/en/news/football/half-term-awards