Tony Humes believes Colchester United's 2-0 win over Yeovil Town will be a "huge lift" for his players.

Second-half goals from David Fox and Jacob Murphy ended the U's four-game losing run and took them to within five points of League One safety, with nine games remaining.

Just 2,336 watched the game at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, the lowest-ever league crowd since the venue opened in 2008.

But boss Humes said those who did attend got behind the U's.

Humes said: "Great credit to the players - the crowd supported them superbly well and it helps the players massively when they support them.

"It was a massive win - if we hadn't have won we'd have been under massive pressure to win more games with fewer and fewer games available.

"But this gives us a huge lift and we have to go again now.

"We're delighted - it was tough game from two nervous teams.

“We weren’t great in the first half - we didn’t have control of the game.

“Yeovil caused us problems from set-pieces and they pinned us in without massively working Sam Walker.

“But you can only do that for so long and get away with it.

“We had to make sure we came out in the second half and were a little bit braver on the ball and a bit more urgent.

“We needed to use our width and the strengths that we have got in the team and I thought that we did that well.

"Jacob Murphy had an impact on the game, winning the penalty and scoring a fantastic goal.

"They showed tonight they are a strong group and got a fantastic victory out of it.

“The players should be confident going into the Gillingham game and draw on the strength that they showed as a collective on the pitch.

“They’ve had a solid, if not spectacular, performance and a couple of bits of quality should give them a lot of belief to go into Saturday’s game (against Gillingham)."

For a full match report, pictures and reaction to the U's game with Yeovil, see Wednesday's Daily Gazette.