Colchester United midfielder, Harry Pell, believed that the U’s were the better team for the first quarter of the game, but that a failure to score during this period ended up costing them at Accrington Stanley on Saturday

The U’s bowed out of the FA Cup following a 1-0 defeat at the Crown Ground, despite more then matching their League One hosts.

“I thought we were a bit unlucky today,” admitted Pell.

“After about 20 minutes, I think we were unlucky not to be 2-0 up. Noubes (Frank Nouble) obviously had a great chance (one-on-one with the keeper) and Sammie (Szmodics) had two chances.

“I thought we were fantastic in those opening minutes, but then it died off a little bit.

“Accrington have done what we are trying to achieve this season, to get promoted, but I didn’t think there was much to choose between the sides.

“They had a lot of chances in the second half when we were chasing the game, which we had to do because it’s the FA Cup.

“The injuries possibly affected us, because it’s never nice to see two of your lads (centre-half Tom Eastman and keeper Rene Gilmartin) go down, and two of your main lads as well.

“But I feel we still gave a good account of ourselves, and we had to really go for it in the second half, when the game became very open.

“Overall, it’s disappointing to go out of the FA Cup, but I think it could have been a totally different story if we had taken one or two of those early chances. I didn’t feel that Accrington looked like they came from a higher division. They would have been a good scalp for us.

“Today was a good gauge for us, and I don’t think we are a million miles away, although we were a bit wasteful in possession at times, which is unusual for us.

“It’s just important to dust ourselves down and go again, and obviously now we have to focus on the Checkatrade Trophy and then, more importantly, the league.”

Dan Barlaser’s winning goal took a deflection off Pell, as the U’s man confirmed: “The ball took a deflection off me.

“I have taken the sting out of the shot, to be fair, and it has bounced like it did with Noubs, straight into the ground. One went in for them, and one didn’t got in for us.

“We’ve got to realise how far we have come as a team. There are a lot positives at the moment, and we mustn’t let this defeat affect us.”