Colchester United boss, Joe Dunne, detected negative vibes amongst his players, and amongst the crowd, during Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Swindon.

The Dubliner was happy with the way his side played, for the first 25 minutes, but once the Robins had got their noses in front, he felt that the mood changed dramatically, both on the pitch and in the stands.

“The first goal was key, it totally changed the complex of our mindset,” insisted Dunne.

“Out mind-set had been positive, but we then got possibly nervous and the atmosphere in the ground changed.

“Sometimes, when you are passing the ball between centre-backs and moving it, and not going anywhere, people can get frustrated.

“But patience is key, and we ended up forcing the ball a bit.

“But I want my players to keep the ball.

“It’s a disappointing defeat, and I think it’s fair to say that we didn’t work their goalkeeper enough.

“I thought we did really well for the first 25 minutes.

“We came up against a team who didn’t play with any striker. I’d never seen that before, and we were encouraged by that because we kept the ball well and moved it, as well as getting into some good shooting situations.

“We had a couple of chances, but then the goal knocked our confidence a bit

“What happened then was that we started to force it, and the atmosphere in the ground changed, and the fans became frustrated.”

The U’s return to action at Preston next Saturday.

See today’s East Anglian Daily Times newspaper for a full match report, pictures and further reaction from Saturday’s defeat to Swindon.