Nicky Eaden on the U23's hard-fought draw against Colchester United at the Higgs Centre...
Nicky Eaden believes his Under-23 side should have continued their winning form as they were held to draw against Colchester.
George Thomas scored twice for the home side, but City’s young charges were pegged back on both occasions, conceding a late equaliser in the 89th minute.
The Sky Blues slipped to second in the table on goal difference after the draw, and Eaden admits it was a missed opportunity. He said: “I feel we should have won the game today. I don’t think we were at the standard we have set in previous weeks.
“Having said that we still had plenty of chances to come away with the three points, but it was a very stop-start kind of performance and that was disappointing.
“It happens at all levels where for one reason or another you have an off day, but I said to them as younger players they’ve really got to drive themselves on.”
City’s Development side conceded within moments of going in front on two separate occasions, and Eaden admitted his side have to be more resilient. He said: “When the performance isn’t always there you have to be a little more resilient than we were today.
“We worked hard to take lead twice today and quickly gave them a route back into the game. When you’ve earned the lead you have to protect it better than we did,”
He added: “It should be easier to defend a lead than have to chase the game in search of an equaliser. It should mean you do less running and make the opposition work but unfortunately we couldn’t do that."