Danny Cowley hailed Colchester’s display as they struck late to win 1-0 away at MK Dons.
The pivotal moment came late on in a game of few chances, when the referee awarded a penalty for handball by Kane Thompson-Sommers. Former MK Dons midfielder Jack Payne duly scored the spot-kick in the 87th minute to win the game.
Victory means Colchester are unbeaten in nine Sky Bet League Two games and return to winning ways after three draws. MK Dons, who had Callum Hendry sent off in stoppage time, are now winless in six.
“They’re my favourite – away from home, clean sheet and a 1-0 win,” Cowley said. “I’m so pleased for the boys, who put in an incredible amount of effort.
“MK are a team that want to take control of the ball and I thought we did a really good job both against the ball and with the ball. Credit to the subs as they came on in a time when it looked like we were tiring and got control of the game for us.
“Before the game, we felt we had a real togetherness and spirit, and there’s a really special commodity that’s hard to find in life, let alone football. They trust each other. Sometimes, that trust, when it comes, it can really be a springboard to push you on.
“Jack Payne, he played here last year. Why they didn’t re-sign him, I’ll never know. He’s a top player at this level.
“It was great to get the winner and I’m so pleased for Jack – what a kid he is.”
Scott Lindsey felt his side did not deserve the later sucker punch, but said the team had to keep going to find a result to run things around.
He said: “It’s just football isn’t it? Sometimes you can perform really well and not come away with what you deserve. I think we deserved something from that game.
“Did we do enough to win it? You could argue that, but we certainly didn’t deserve to lose it.
“I thought we were the better team and big periods in the second half where we controlled it and were really locked in, but we could’ve asked more questions of the goalkeeper for sure.
“At the moment, we’re in a nervy position and the players probably feel that little bit of anxiety at times in front of goal. But we’ve got to continue because you can see the players are really fighting and don’t deserve that today.
“Lots of positives today, but obviously we need to win. We wanted to win today. We haven’t, we’re disappointed, but we’ve got to keep going and continuing the work we’re doing to turn them performances into positive results.”
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