Colchester United boss, Tony Humes, admitted that his side missed the presence of Magnus Okuonghae in central defence for last Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Port Vale.

Okuonghae was ruled out with a sore hamstring, but is hoping to be fit for this Sunday’s FA Cup first round tie at Gosport Borough.

“We missed Magnus a bit,” confessed Humes, after the U’s first defeat in five games.

“Port Vale caused us a few problems through the two front lads, playing through the channels and playing off each other.

“They did a job on us, stopping our centre-halves playing from the back and closing us down in midfield. We didn’t click, and our top four players were not as effective as they have been.

“We did not get Sanchez (Watt) or Gavin (Massey) into the game enough.

“Magnus was ruled out by a slight hamstring strain. We didn’t risk him because of what we have coming up.

“If we had tried it, Magnus might have ended up being out for four weeks.

“He did test it (last Friday) and said it wasn’t quite right, so we just said – ‘no, it’s not worth it.’

“We will need Magnus’ experience next weekend, down at Gosport, because I’m sure they will be throwing everything at us.

“We will need calm, experienced heads out there, so we will nurse Magnus through this week to be ready for next Sunday,” added Humes.