COLCHESTER United goal-hero Jermaine Easter described Tuesday night's win against Yeovil, played in front of a sparse crowd, as being “like a reserve game!”Easter rammed home the winner on 54 minutes to seal a precious 1-0 victory for the U's, which propelled Paul Lambert's men out of the relegation zone.

Carl Marston

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United goal-hero Jermaine Easter described Tuesday night's win against Yeovil, played in front of a sparse crowd, as being “like a reserve game!”

Easter rammed home the winner on 54 minutes to seal a precious 1-0 victory for the U's, which propelled Paul Lambert's men out of the relegation zone.

But a dismal attendance of just 3,214 turned up to watch, which led to an eerie atmosphere within the confines of a two-thirds empty stadium.

“The fans want to see the team win, so you can understand why some are staying away, but hopefully they'll start coming back if we can get on a run,” explained Easter.

“It was a bit flat around the stadium on Tuesday night. In fact, it felt like a reserve game. You could hear each other shout quite easily.

“I don't want to talk about what's happened here in the past, but it's clear that teams come here to defend and make it difficult for us. The lads have told me this, and Yeovil did just that.

“I think this was a big win for the club. We really needed it. I know that it wasn't a great game, but the most important thing is not the way we perform, but rather that we are starting to pick up some results.

“I believe that the lads are in a false position. I thought that before I came here, having played against them for Millwall (on loan) earlier in the season,” added Easter, with referee to the Lions' 2-1 win at the Community Stadium a month ago.

Front-runner Easter arrived on loan from Plymouth last Thursday. He impressed on his debut in the 2-1 defeat at Peterborough, and was delighted to mark his home debut with the winner against Yeovil, hooking home a shot from Clive Platt's knock-down.

“Playing alongside a target man suits my game. I like playing off a big man, and so it's not surprising that Clive Platt and I already have a good understanding,” continued Welsh international Easter.

“I thought we were the better team at Peterborough, despite losing, and there's no reason why we can't string together three or four wins, which would see us up amongst it in the top half of the table.

“I was annoyed not to score in the first half on Tuesday night. The Yeovil keeper (Josh Wagenaar) got his hands to my shot, even though it went through a few bodies. I thought that was going in.

“He also got his hands to my other shot, but he couldn't keep that out.”

Easter's most successful period of his career, to date, came at Wycombe Wanderers when Lambert was the manager of the Chairboys.

The 26-year-old scored 28 goals in 70 senior appearances for Wycombe, which prompted a £210,000 move to Championship outfit Plymouth a year ago.

Easter confirmed: “You could say that the gaffer has faith in me, but I did well for him at Wycombe.

“He (Lambert) knew that I was not happy at Plymouth. He took the opportunity to bring me here, and I'm delighted to be working with him again.

“He instilled belief in the team at Wycombe, which is why we managed to go on such a good Cup run and win so many big games (reaching the Carling Cup semi-finals, before losing to Chelsea). We felt like we could go out and win games,” added Easter.

The U's travel to Northampton Town on Saturday, hampered by a long list of injuries. Midfielder Kem Izzet (hamstring) and full-back Phil Ifil (gash to his shin) have joined the likes of Steven Gillespie, Matt Heath, John White and Lee Hills in the treatment room.

Easter concluded: “I can't believe all the injuries that we've had since I've been here. That's five in two matches! We're dropping like flies!”

Lambert will be looking to bolster his squad before tonight's deadline for loan transfers. The Scotsman is trying to bring in a couple of new players.