Colchester United head coach John McGreal admits their 2-2 draw at Port Vale was a case of two points dropped after a late goal denied them victory at Vale Park.

The U's looked like claiming all three points having been ahead twice in the League Two clash through Courtney Senior and Drey Wright, only for Dave Worrall to score his second of the game with three minutes remaining to deny them victory.

McGreal said: “It was two points dropped.

“Division two games aren’t always going to be like playing through the thirds with wingers and full-backs overlapping and dropping into holes, as we did in the first half.

“We said in the team-talk at half-time that we expected them to come at us in the second half and we were comfortable for the majority of it.

“We made the change and it went to plan but then we totally knocked off for the goal.

“We ran off the pitch trying to block it – the shot was going wide and as we’ve run off the pitch we kept the lads onside and it’s a goal.

“We brought big Pross on and him, Frank and Tom dealt with the balls coming in – it was right up their street.

“We looked comfortable – we sat in a little bit but this is division two and we weren’t able to deal with that last couple of minutes."

It was a memorable day for Senior, who marked his first-ever league start with a goal for Colchester.

McGreal added: "Courtney did well - we're a club of opportunity bringing the young lads through.

"He deserved his start after how he's performed of late and scored a good goal for us."