COLCHESTER United boss John Ward says his side deserved their unconvincing late victory at Walsall today.

Andy Bond looped in a header eight minutes from time to settle a drab match that had looked destined to end goal-less.

The U’s then just about escaped when Darren Byfield fired over an open goal following a poor back-pass from Kemi Izzet.

Ward believes his side were due the slice of good fortune though having only coming away with draws after leading against Exeter, Sheffield Wednesday and Carlisle.

“We said before the game that we owe ourselves a win after the three draws we’ve had,” said Ward.

“You’re going to watch us for 46 games and you’re not going to see a spectacle every week. Sometimes it has to be rough and tumble and we’ve shown today we can deal with that.

“There are going to be a number of games like today this season and we’ve shown we have the character to deal with them.

“Hopefully now we won’t keep talking about the late goals we’ve conceded and can look at our ability to score late goals too.”

– Full interview and reaction from Pat Baldwin in Monday’s EADT.