COLCHESTER United boss John Ward hailed the character of his side after they came from two goals behind to beat Leyton Orient last night.

The 3-2 home victory over their East London rivals – Colchester’s third win in succession – keeps the U’s joint-second in League One.

“We’ve showed our character once again,” said Ward, whose side also had to come from behind to win their previous home game against Notts County.

“I didn’t think we deserved to go 2-0 down because I thought we started really well and you could see from the body language of my players that they believed they could get back into it.

“If you are coming to watch Colchester United at the moment you know you are going to get some entertainment.”

Striker Alex Revell – who started his career with Essex non-league side Braintree Town – scored twice in the opening 18 minutes to leave the O’s well on course for their first away league victory since January.

Colchester were level by the break though thanks to a rare goal from defender Matt Heath and a David Mooney penalty.

Both sides had efforts cleared off the line in the second half, but it was Colchester who came up with the winner 10 minutes from time when right-back Brian Wilson curled a superb 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.

“I don’t want it to become a habit for us to go behind in games, but when we do we know that we have enough steel, experience and knowledge to get beck into a game,” said Ward.

And the U’s boss reserved praise for a home crowd of 3,898 for their part in the victory after they had voiced their frustrations in the previous match.

He said: “I thought the supporters were brilliant. We had a few problems with them in the Notts County game but they were terrific tonight.”

– Full interview in Wednesday’s EADT.