Lisbie adds to Williams' injury woes

Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United manager Geraint Williams admitted that his side's 5-1 defeat at Norwich City “encapsulated” their whole season.

Williams rued: “Where do we start with this one? The game encapsulated our whole season. We created several chances, but conceded five goals and also had a player (Kevin Lisbie) limping off injured.

“But we are not at the point where we want this season to end. There are still six games to go, and we have pride and plenty of points to play for.

“I also thought our fans were magnificent, as they have been all season. The lads put in a lot of effort, but quality-wise defensively we have not been good enough all year.

“We have so many injuries that I haven't been able to freshen up the team. There were a lot of tired bodies and a lot of tired minds out there. Mentally we were tired, and that showed at the end of the game with the other two goals conceded.

“We set out to be positive, and started OK, but we then conceded and were left chasing the game. We were on our last legs at the end.

“It's a hard result to take. Norwich took their chances, but we did not defend well enough,” added Williams.

The U's tale of woe, on the injury front, continued both before and during the game. Already without the equivalent of a whole team due to injury, defender Matt Heath limped out of the last training session on Friday with a calf muscle injury.

Leeds United loanee Heath is expected to be out of action for at least a month, so he has probably played his last game for Colchester - like previous loanee Izzy McLeod, he only made two appearances before being struck down by the injury curse of Layer Road.

Meanwhile, leading marksman Lisbie hobbled off with a calf injury during the second-half against Norwich.

“Our physio is working over-time at the moment. In fact, he's thinking about working in shifts.” concluded Williams wryly.