John McGreal believes that his Colchester United team made a statement of intent, despite only picking up their first point in three matches at Mansfield Town on Saturday.

The U’s boss was encouraged by the performance, against a Stags side who have now lost just two of their last 23 league games.

“I think my players made a statement in this match, against a top three team. We played all the football and came away with a deserved point,” enthused McGreal.

“We tweaked our system and made changes. I went on record, last week, saying that we are not here to beat about the bush – we want to try and make things happen at the club.

“I felt it was the right time to make these (five) changes, and this match proved that.

“Some of our football at times was terrific, and other times we made mistakes to put ourselves on the back foot. But we kept the ball moving in good areas in the second half, with both teams wanting to go on and win the match.

“We sometimes over-played and over-passed it, but I’m not going to take that away from the boys.

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“They showed a bit of confidence after a few doubters had been questioning whether they were good enough to be in and around the play-offs.

“Some of the performances from players who had been out for a long time were excellent,” added McGreal.

Brandon Comley rifled home his first goal for the Club, in his 30th appearance, to notch a 51st minute equaliser at Field Mill. It was in fact the first senior goal of his career, in his 80th game.

“I think Brandon has been excellent, since he came into the building,” said McGreal, who initially signed Comley on loan from QPR last summer, before making the deal permanent in January.

He continued: “I just think Brandon goes about his business in a quiet manner. He’s a tigerish player in that midfield, and he showed a bit of quality to skip past a couple of players and put the ball in the bottom corner.

“I’m really pleased for him.”

The U’s, who have slipped into the lower half of the table in 13th spot, are still in the League Two play-off shake-up going into their last 10 fixtures. They entertain lowly Yeovil this Saturday.