Colchester United’s man-of-the-match, Richard Brindley, believes that the U’s escape from the basement is a big psychological boost, going into the second half of the season.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Oldham was enough to lift the U’s off bottom spot, at the expense of Crewe Alexandra.

“Psychologically, it means the world to us, to be off the bottom of the league,” insisted Brindley.

“We don’t deserve to be at the bottom, we know that, and we’ve been working towards this aim. We are good enough to be near the top, and mentally it’s important so that we can move forwards.

“I’m sure that with the manager (Kevin Keen) we have now, we are more than capable of moving up the league.”

With regards Saturday’s display, Brindley was full of praise for midfielder Owen Garvan, who was introduced as a substitute at the start of the second-half. It was Garvan’s corner that led to the equaliser.

“I think we deserved at least a point today, in fact I think we deserved more,” continued Brindley. “We were unlucky with the goal, but we did well to come back and get a draw.

“Owen Garvan did very well for us, when he came on. He was very effective. He got the ball down in the second half, and was always there as an option, to get the ball forward and to keep us moving.

“In the first half we struggled to dominate in the midfield, and perhaps we defended a little bit too deep, so their long balls worked for them,” added Brindley.