Colchester United boss John McGreal admitted that his side were rather “naive” after today’s heavy 4-0 home defeat to promotion-chasing Portsmouth.

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, to Eoin Doyle’s 21st minute header, the U’s shipped three more goals in the second period with Kyle Bennett (46), Danny Rose (61) and Michael Doyle (73) all on target.

McGreal said: “All credit to (manager) Paul Cook, and Portsmouth. They played very well.

“I thought they were braver than we were.

“We showed our naivety today, especially with that second goal which was a real soft one to concede, just after half-time.

“We started the game well, for the first 10 minutes, but then mistakes crept in and Portsmouth started to get possession.

“This is obviously a bit of a setback, but we are still in a strong position, with 10 games to go,” added McGreal.