COLCHESTER United boss Paul Lambert believes his side will bounce back from last night's home defeat by Tranmere Rovers.

Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United boss Paul Lambert believes his side will bounce back from last night's home defeat by Tranmere Rovers.

The U's suffered only their second defeat in their last 13 league matches, to leave them eight points adrift of the top six.

They were undone by Ryan Shotton's pinpoint header, following Charlie Barnett's 49th minute free-kick, and they never looked like cancelling out this effort.

“We didn't deserve to get anything out of this game. Tranmere deserved to win,” confessed Lambert.

“But you can't be too critical of the lads because of what they have achieved recently, and I'm sure that we will bounce back.

“Our good run was always going to end at some time, and it's how we react to this that is important. Then we will see how far we have come.

“If you can't cut out a cross, then you're always going to be hard pushed, which is what we found with their winner. I made several changes in the second half, because you want to try everything to get a goal back.

“I thought Jamie Guy did fine when he came on, and he nearly got us an equaliser late on. But whether we would have deserved that is another matter.

“I thought we missed Kem Izzet (suspended). He's been a massive player for us this season. He's been terrific, but he'll be back for Saturday,” added Lambert.