Colchester United boss, John McGreal, admitted that his side’s 1-1 draw at Yeovil Town was “a missed opportunity,” despite rallying from a goal down with just 10 men at Huish Park this afternoon.

Trailing to Jake Gray’s 53rd minute opening goal, which led to keeper Dillon Barnes being sent off in the aftermath following a clash with Tristan Abrahams, the 10-man U’s recovered with Tom Eastman sweeping home a 75th minute equaliser.

The draw has kept the U’s just two points adrift of the play-offs, and they have also moved up a place to eighth slot, although the matches are running out with just two fixtures to play.

“It was a missed opportunity, definitely,” admitted McGreal, following the draw in Somerset against relegation-threatened hosts.

“I thought we started the second half well, with Yeovil backing off us. We dominated the ball, Courtney Senior could have had a penalty, and Abo Eisa should be scoring from such a good position as well, something he always does in training.

“It’s then a poor goal to concede, although I can’t really comment on the sending-off, because I didn’t really see what happened after the ball hit the back of the net.

“From what I am told, he (Barnes) can’t really do that, and perhaps it was down to the frustration of conceding the goal? It was a mistake, obviously, but we have a young keeper with young centre-halves and young full-backs, so mistakes will happen.

“But as a team, we just got on with it. We got back on the front foot, our fans got behind us and we changed our shape with the introduction of a couple of substitutes. They were positive substitutions.

“It was a very entertaining end to the game. We were obviously fed information in the dug-out about the results elsewhere, with most of the teams drawing.

“That’s going to happen, at this stage of the season, when teams are being cagey, especially after two games in just three days. In the end, after going a goal down and being down to 10 men, we scrapped and we fought and we were able to get a point.

“And we weren’t just settling for the point either. We tried to get the winner, but a point gained after what happened is good for us. There are some sore bodies in there, and with Rene (Gilmartin) being injured and Dillon being sent off, we might have a 17-year-old on the bench next time.”