Despite last weekend’s defeat at Portsmouth, right-back Richard Brindley remains upbeat and confident for the season ahead.

Colchester United travel to Wycombe Wanderers, their arch-rivals from the Conference days back in the early 1990s, for an intriguing League Two clash in Buckinghamshire today.

The U’s saw their unbeaten league tag disappear, with the 2-0 defeat at Fratton Park, courtesy of Gary Roberts’ late brace on 80 and 83 minutes, but Brindley is ready to embrace another tough away test this weekend.

“We were a bit frustrated with the Portsmouth defeat. It was one of those where the result didn’t reflect our performance,” insisted Brindley.

“I think even their manager (Paul Cook) agreed we deserved more from the game. They literally ran out of oxygen.

“We had a plan and that worked. We let them have possession and we held them off. They couldn’t break us down in the second half, and they had nothing left until the penalty.

“It was just a slight switch-off, for a second, and that can happen. Goals change games, and that’s what spurred on Portsmouth.

“But we can take heart from that display.

“We were very disappointed to lose. It’s the worst feeling when you have played so well, and handled a team, only to get beaten like that.

“It was very hard to take, but we were over that quickly and we’re now concentrating on getting three points at Wycombe.

“We are still very confident and we can take a lot of positives from the Portsmouth game,” added Brindley.

Norwich-born Brindley is looking to make up for lost time this season, having endured a frustrating last campaign, where he struggled at times with injury and a loss of form.

The 23-year-old featured in less than half of the U’s 46 league games last term, as the Essex club suffered relegation from League One. But the ex-Rotherham defender has started all four of the U’s league games to date, and is happy with the U’s start – seven points accrued from a possible 12.

“It’s been a good start to the season for us. We started very strongly, and with the away games it is never easy,” continued Brindley, with reference to the current run of three away games on the trot – Portsmouth, Wycombe (tomorrow) and Crawley (Trophy next Tuesday).

Brindley continued: “People think when you go down a league that it will be easier, but that’s not always the case, and I think League Two is a very difficult league.

“I think with the squad that we have got, we have a lot of talented players who can play a lot of football, although that doesn’t always happen in League Two.

“We also have to handle the physical side of the game, which is a massive task, and I think we have done really well so far.

“It’s a big learning curve for players who haven’t played at this level before, it’s something different. We’re playing against all sorts of different teams,

“I’m still young myself, I still have to adjust.

“Teams might kick it long all the time, you have to deal with the physical side of the game, and I think all the young lads have coped well.

“We will try and get it down and play, but at times, especially when you are away from home, you have to adjust with teams putting balls behind you,” added Brindley.