LETHAL marksman, Johnnie Jackson, admitted that his seventh goal of the season has done little to help Colchester United's cause at the foot of the table.

Carl Marston

LETHAL marksman, Johnnie Jackson, admitted that his seventh goal of the season has done little to help Colchester United's cause at the foot of the table.

Jackson's 71st minute thunderbolt earned the U's a 1-1 draw against mid-table Cardiff City, but it was only United's second point from a possible 21 in their last seven games.

“One point is not really enough. We need all three points at this stage,” insisted Jackson.

“Cardiff scored with their very first attack, after we had kept them camped in their half. I thought - 'not again'. I couldn't believe that we were trailing to their first real kick.

“But I reckon that's the best we have played for a long while. We looked more positive and we always looked like we were going to score. In the end, conceding that early goal left us with too difficult a task to overcome,” added Jackson.

The U's in-form midfielder disagreed with referee Kevin Wright on two of his decisions. The Cambridgeshire-based official failed to give the U's a first-half penalty, for a tug on Kevin Lisbie, and he then sent off Cardiff striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for violent conduct just after the hour mark.

Jackson explained: “It was a clear tug and a clear penalty. Kevin (Lisbie) was held back, otherwise there's no reason why he didn't just go on to stick it in.

“I also thought it was a harsh decision to send off Hasselbaink. It was tight between him and Dean (Gerken) to see who would get the ball. Dean was brave, but Hasselbaink didn't go in too hard and he had a genuine chance of flicking on the ball. It was a booking at worst.

“Of course I was pleased to score, and with my right foot again. It's my weaker foot, so perhaps that just makes me concentrate that bit more.

“And there were no deflections with this goal, which makes a change for me! I thought we'd go on and win it from there, but it was not to be.

“However, we mustn't beat ourselves up about it too much. There were a lot of positives to take from the game.

“We seemed to play more relaxed today. Maybe that's because people have assumed that we're already down. The pressure was off,” added Jackson.