Colchester boss Steve Ball ‘proud’ despite Cheltenham stalemate

Posted Wednesday, December 30, 2020 by PA

Colchester boss Steve Ball believes his side’s 0-0 draw with Cheltenham has given them a ‘good base’ to build from.

The Us played out a stalemate with the Robins at the JobServe Community Stadium, with both sides now five without a victory in League Two.

Colchester’s Kwame Poku came closest to breaking the deadlock just after the hour with a shot that hit a post but Cheltenham enjoyed more attacking play.

Ball said: “Against a team like Cheltenham who put it in there quite a lot and have a really organised team, it’s really hard to stop.

“But I was really proud tonight with how the team stood up to it and we worked hard.

“We could have been better with the ball retention side of it and having the quality at times to secure the ball in areas of the pitch.

“Confidence has been knocked a little bit – I think that’s a really obvious point to make.

“We knew that there would be a few bumps in the road this season but I still firmly believe in us as a group and what they can do this year.

“I’ve been here a long time and I understand that in this league when you have bad runs, confidence dips and when that happens you see the effects but I think this gives us a good base.”

Noah Chilvers had twice gone close early on for Colchester but Cheltenham felt they might have been awarded a penalty when Chris Hussey tumbled under Poku’s challenge in the area.

Colchester keeper Dean Gerken denied both George Lloyd and Alfie May before half-time but Poku hit the woodwork and Omar Sowunmi also came close for the hosts.

Charlie Raglan’s late deflected effort almost won it for Cheltenham but the spoils were shared.

Cheltenham boss Michael Duff said: “I thought it was an excellent performance.

“We could have had several penalties and one of their players walked off and said ‘I thought you could have had one’.

“Even in the last moment of the game, we had a shot that was going in but hit our lad and went just wide.

“That probably summed up the game for us – it was probably similar to the Salford game for us really.

“Colchester are a good team and I thought for us to have so much for the ball and for us to have so many good chances as well, it was excellent.

“So as long as we keep turning out, moving the ball and showing the other side of it as well; I thought the thing that was disappointing last Saturday was the physical nature that we didn’t provide but we looked a strong, powerful and organised unit tonight.”