Colchester United chairman Robbie Cowling insists he will not “throw away everything they’ve worked for” despite their miserable League One losing streak.

The managerless U’s were thrashed 5-1 at promotion-chasing Burton Albion in their first game since Tony Humes’ departure as manager, to slide to their fifth successive league defeat.

Colchester lie just a point above the relegation zone and have won only one of their last ten league games, having now conceded 49 times.

But Cowling, speaking to the assembled media after the U’s defeat at Burton, says the club’s long-term philosophy of playing and providing a pathway for academy players will remain.

He said: “We’re following the club philosophy and in my opinion, it’s working for us over the last few years.

“It’s not at this moment in time but we’re not in the relegation zone and there’s time to turn it around.

“There’s a lot of good players at the club and a lot of good things about the club.

“Clubs go through periods like this when things aren’t good and it’s not always the answer just to throw away everything you’ve worked for, for the last five years.

“We’ve got a philosophy and we’ve been building on something and there’ll be ups and downs.

“At the moment, it’s tough but that’s no reason to throw everything away or throw the baby out of the bathwater.

“You don’t get this many games into the league and start giving up and throwing away everything you’ve worked hard to do.”

For five pages of coverage of the U's game with Burton Albion and their search for a new manager, see Monday's Daily Gazette.