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Gannon's so proud

Simon Smedley
22/10/2008

HATTERS boss Jim Gannon still managed to speak of his pride in his players after Saturday’s game which was, of course, overshadowed by the sickening injury suffered by Matty McNeil.

County faced a battle royal all afternoon against Colchester at Edgeley Park, but in the end Clive Platt’s winning goal just three minutes from time put paid to an impressive six-match unbeaten league run.

Gannon said: "I felt the players were a little lost at times when trying to break Colchester down, but in the second half we did manage to combine a few more passes together. The players showed that they can play.

"On the balance of play we certainly didn’t deserve the result that went against us though.

"I was proud of the players with the way they rose to the physical challenge and the footballing challenge.

"It’s on record that we’re the team with the least amount of fouls committed with the most amount of fouls against us - and the team with the least amount of disciplinary cautions and the most against us.

"We’ve got another tough game coming up against MK Dons now, but we’ve got a lot of pros training at present. I certainly won’t be afraid to make changes."

As well as McNeil being out for last night’s [Tues] game at Milton Keynes following his head injury, Michael Raynes was also set to be missing as he limped out of the game in the first half on Saturday with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

"I can only imagine the way Paul Lambert prepares his team against our young players - we’ve seen history of it in the past," added Gannon.

"I can only imagine the comments he’s made to his players.

"Matty McNeil was having a fantastic game and was a real threat - they soon took care of that."

It was probably unsurprising that Colchester’s new boss Lambert scarcely commented on the incident in which Paul Reid was booked for his ‘challenge’ on County striker McNeil. He just spoke about his side’s victory.

Lambert said: "It was a massive performance. I thought they were brilliant - the lads were really great, it was a big effort.

"They’ve had a bit of a hard time, but it just shows you they’ve got it in their capabilities to do it."