Colchester United boss John McGreal praised his players for “putting their bodies on the line” during this afternoon’s 2-0 home win over lowly Cheltenham Town.

Goals from Tom Eastman (10 minutes) and Brennan Dickenson (84 minutes) made it 19 points massed from a possible 21 in the U’s last seven matches.

“The great run continues, although at times in the second half we did look dead on our feet,” admitted U’s boss McGreal.

“Credit to the boys, because they have put their bodies on the line in the box when it was tight at 1-0.

“In the first half, I thought we should have had a definite penalty (for handball) and we had one or two other opportunities which fell to Ports (Chris Porter).

“So we should have been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time, but we weren’t and it was quite tight in the second half.

“However, we scored the second goal at just the right time, just when we were out on our feet,” added McGreal.

The U’s are just two points adrift of the League Two play-offs, going into another home game this Saturday, against high-flying Carlisle United.