COLCHESTER United boss, John Ward, insists that now is not the time for the U’s to feel sorry for themselves.

The U’s have failed to win any of their first nine games of the season, eight in League One, and have managed just five goals in those nine fixtures.

On his team’s current plight, Ward admitted: “We are getting kicked at the moment, but we have got to keep at it.

“We feel that things are going against us a little bit, but there’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves.

“I’m guessing this is what happens when you are down there. I’ve been down once or twice in my career, but perhaps not as long as this.”

Referring to his team’s lack of goals, Ward added: “We are not scoring enough goals.

“We have lost that quality at the top end of the pitch. I’m looking for us to score first, and then I’d be interested to see what happened.

“But we’ve not been good enough to get a share of the spoils, or even the win.

“We got in their (Scunthorpe’s) box enough times to have been better, but we haven’t finished. I’m not pleading bad luck, we have to do better, I’ve never denied that.”

The U’s, beaten 1-0 at Scunthorpe last weekend, entertain Hartlepool this Saturday.