Colchester United boss Tony Humes admitted that it was “bad day at the office” for his U’s team following today’s 2-1 home defeat to Port Vale.

Goals from Mark Marshall (56 minutes) and substitute Colin Daniel (60) wrapped up the points for the Valiants, despite a 79th minute consolation goal for Freddie Sears, who had earlier missed a penalty when the score was still 0-0.

Humes said: “It’s disappointing. We weren’t as good as we have been in recent weeks.

“That’s when the learning curve comes in, with the younger players coming up against more experienced players.

“We just couldn’t break them down.

“However, if the penalty goes in (after 32 minutes) then it’s a totally different game.

“Port Vale would then have had to open up a bit, and I think we would have had enough to hit them on the counter-attack.

“It was a bad day at the office, and they were two soft goals to concede.

“But we move on. It just didn’t happen for us today,” added Humes.