Last weekend, Owen Garvan suffered his first league defeat in a Colchester United shirt, after an unbeaten sequence extending to six games.

But the U’s experienced midfielder is confident that the Essex club can bounce straight back, on the road at struggling Shrewsbury Town this afternoon, following the 1-0 home defeat to on-song Bury.

“Let’s see what sort of reaction we get!” insisted Garvan.

“It’s all about starting another winning run, after our four recent wins, and the two draws before that.

“It was a good little bit of a run we were on, but these runs always have to come to an end at some point.

“The important thing is how you react as a team, and also how you react as individuals.

“We have two away games coming up now (at Shrewsbury and Wigan), but I think that will suit us because teams were starting to come to our place and just sit behind the ball, making it more frustrating for us.

“And we’ve also won our last two away games (3-2 at Sheffield United and 2-1 at Swindon), so confidence is high.

“We’ve done what Bury did to us last weekend, sitting in with the two midfielders and trying to hit teams on the counters with our wingers,” added Garvan.

Despite last Saturday’s defeat to Bury, which was the Shakers’ seventh on the bounce, the U’s remain in the top 10 and well-placed, after three successive years of struggle against relegation.

“I still think we played well against Bury. It just didn’t fall for us on the day, so we can still take a lot of confidence from that,” continued Garvan.

“We can’t criticise last week’s performance. We had most of the ball, but just couldn’t break them down. We know we can continue playing well, and that will get us on the right side of most results.

“Teams that have been promoted (like Shrewsbury) often mix their games up, at times playing a little bit and then going back-to-front as well. That happens a lot in this division.

“But we have been very effective at nullifying teams, especially away from home, and then the longer the game goes, the better it suits us.

“Shrewsbury have lost their last three games, and haven’t had the best of times, but you can’t be complacent in this game.

“At least we’ve been doing better defensively, as opposed to when I first came here. That’s a big positive.

“Hopefully, we can pounce on any nerves that Shrewsbury might have. They might be fragile.”

Dublin-born Garvan, who first came to England to join Ipswich Town’s youth squad in 2004, went on to play 174 games for Town, and then a further 87 for Crystal Palace, before his move to Colchester at the end of August, as a free agent.

Initially arriving on a short-term contract, Garvan has since signed a long-term deal which will keep him at the Weston Homes Community Stadium until the summer of 2017.

“I’m happy here,” said Garvan.

“When you are not playing football, you become so frustrated. There are so many players still out of contract, and still looking for clubs out there.

“I have found my club. We are mid-table, and still don’t know what season we are going to have. At the moment, we are a League One club, and the aim for everyone here is to progress.

“But it’s too early to say how we will fair this season, with players on loan, others out of contract next year, possible injuries and alike.”