Danny Cowley saluted in-form Colchester after their 1-0 home win over Chesterfield lifted them closer to the League Two play-off places.
John-Kymani Gordon’s 59th-minute close-range header from Jack Payne’s fine delivery sealed victory for the U’s, who are now six points off the top seven after extending their unbeaten run to 10 matches.
Boss Cowley said: “It was a really hard fought, brilliant win. I’m really proud of the players. I thought their will tonight was incredible.
“We were the better side in the first half and we got into some really good moments.
“We couldn’t quite find that final action but when you consider we were without Teddy Bishop, we lost Arthur Read to illness at half-time, two of our centre midfielders in a game against Chesterfield who like to come and overload you in central areas and in wide areas.
“I thought the boys stuck to the task and we were really well supported by our brilliant supporters – they stayed with us through the whole game.
“It was a great header by JK Gordon. The pitch is incredibly difficult, probably the worst that I’ve had to prepare a team for but it’s our pitch.
“It might be a difficult pitch but it’s a pitch that we’re finding good form on and we are really enjoying playing here.”
Colchester were worthy of their win, with Chesterfield goalkeeper Ryan Boot twice denying Payne and also saving well from Ellis Iandolo.
Chesterfield midfielder Bailey Hobson saw his effort saved by U’s goalkeeper Matt Macey before half-time.
But a bad night for the Spireites, who are without a win in four, was compounded in the 89th minute when striker Paddy Madden was shown a red card for a foul on Colchester substitute Samson Tovide.
Chesterfield assistant manager Danny Webb said: “It’s a common theme at the minute. The scoreline doesn’t lie.
“It’s a really disappointing run at the minute and we haven’t come away from any game recently thinking ‘we should have won that’ or ‘we should have got a draw’.
“You’re hoping something drops to us at the end and the lads worked their socks off but it wasn’t very good.
“We want clean sheets, we want to score goals and we’re not really doing either.
“It was a real shame for those supporters who came tonight and those who watched it from home.
“We’re in a period now where I should imagine a lot of people are thinking ‘just end the season’ but there are still a lot of games to go, so we need to liven up.
“We do not want a sad, flat end to the season – we want something for the supporters to sing about.”
