Have Colchester United become a tougher nut to crack under John McGreal?

On the evidence of the opening six weeks of the season, the answer is yes.

Over the past few years, U’s supporters have unfortunately had to get pretty used to disappointment; just as winning is a habit in football, so too is losing.

So it was hardly surprising that following his appointment as head coach at the end of last season, where victories were few and far between, McGreal set out to bring a winning mentality to the club.

And while the U’s boss will no doubt have wanted to have seen out victory at Barnet at the weekend having seen his side lead for much of the game at The Hive, he will nevertheless be pleased to see them once again show a resilience rarely seen in Colchester’s recent history.

Indeed, this was the kind of game they might easily have lost last season, given the amount of defending they were forced to do in the second half.

But this is a different U’s side now, one that has lost just once on the road in the league this season.

“They could have folded with it being 1-1 in the last six or seven minutes but they’ve gone the other way and had that drive to get the winner, which is great,” said McGreal afterwards the Barnet draw.

Admittedly, the U’s are now playing in a lower division before; fans will naturally expect their side to be challenging in the top echelons of League Two and rightly so.

And they are challenging – Colchester lie just four points off top spot and only three teams have scored more times than them in the fourth tier, so far.

McGreal will want to improve on the goals against column, with only two teams in the top half of the table having conceded more goals than the U's.

But it is still early days and the additions of Luke Prosser and Lewis Kinsella to their defensive unit have proved effective, so far.

Colchester’s next test is at the Weston Homes Community Stadium this weekend and the visit of Accrington Stanley, who will be in confident mood having just beaten Portsmouth.

Now the U’s must ensure that their hard-earned away point at Barnet becomes even more worthwhile, by making home advantage count.