Colchester United boss Tony Humes admitted that his side were well off the pace, during this afternoon’s heavy 5-0 defeat at impressive Wigan Athletic.

Wigan were 4-0 up inside the first 33 minutes, thanks to a brace from wing-back Donervon Daniels (5 and 15 minutes), a deflected shot by Max Power (11) and a good finish by Will Grigg (33).

Striker Grigg then notched his second and Wigan’s fifth, on 87 minutes, to complete the rout.

The U’s have now lost three games on the trot, having won their previous four games, and have the worst defensive record in League One.

“We’ve got to bounce back on Tuesday,” insisted Humes, with reference to the midweek home game against Port Vale.

“That’s the only way we can put this one right.

“Wigan clicked, and we didn’t. Too many players were not at the top of their game, and we needed that to get a result.

“I thought we were a yard off the pace.

“It just didn’t happen for us in this game, it’s not that we weren’t trying.

“But we must move on,” added Humes.

U’s club captain Chris Porter said: “It was very disappointing. We conceded early on, and then conceding the second with a cruel defelction was hard to take.

But we will put it right.”