COLCHESTER United boss Paul Lambert praised his match-winner Jermaine Easter as the U's escaped from the bottom four last night.Easter netted the only goal of the game in his second appearance for the U's, since his loan move from Plymouth.

Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United boss Paul Lambert praised his match-winner Jermaine Easter as the U's escaped from the bottom four last night.

Easter netted the only goal of the game in his second appearance for the U's, since his loan move from Plymouth. He capped an impressive performance with the winner in the 54th minute.

As a result, United leapfrogged Yeovil in the League One table.

Lambert enthused: “Jermaine (Easter) was brilliant for me during my time at Wycombe, and he's been terrific for me already in his first two games here.

“He's already developed a good understanding with Clive Platt. It was a world class goal. We really needed that, and I thought we thoroughly deserved the win.

“It was a big, big effort, considering all the injuries, and we suffered a couple more in this game,” added Lambert.

Both midfielder Kem Izzet and full-back Phil Ifil failed to appear for the second half, to add to an injury list that already included John White, Matt Heath, Steven Gillespie and Lee Hills.

Lambert is therefore eager to bolster his squad before the deadline for loan deals tomorrow evening.

“We are down to the bare bones at the moment,” admitted Lambert.

“The lads' confidence has never been down, but they need a little help and that's why I'm trying to bring in a couple more players before the loan deadline.

“Whether we get them is another matter because no one is very keen to loan players out, but I'll be trying. The defence is certainly looking a bit short, with all these injuries, and that's one area I'm looking at.

“Phil (Ifil) has a gash to his shin, while Kem (Izzet) has a problem with his hamstring,” added Lambert.