Colchester United head coach John McGreal admits his side lacked a cutting edge following their 0-0 draw at Chesterfield this afternoon.

The U's had to settle for a point at the Proact Stadium against the struggling Spireites but extended their unbeaten run to five matches in League Two.

It was the first time that Colchester have failed to score in seven matches and boss McGreal admits it was frustrating not to get the win, after they dropped to eighth in the table.

He said: “We lacked a bit of a cutting edge – we’ve had two away games on the bounce and a bit of heavy travelling yesterday.

“No excuses because we still had opportunities with the likes of Sam (Szmodics) and Drey (Wright) and haven’t picked people out.

“But it wasn’t to be and it’s a clean sheet away from home and it keeps the form going.

“After two tough away fixtures we’ve come away with four points.

“Am I disappointed? I would say so, because we got in some fantastic areas but we were wasteful in the final third."

Colchester had their chances, with leading scorer Sammie Szmodics and Drey Wright both going close.

But U's keeper Sam Walker was also called into action to deny the likes of Joe Rowley and Jerome Binnom-Williams, as the visitors had to settle for a point.

“I keep saying it but it’s fine lines in this division – the two teams have gone hammer and tong, both 4-3-3 and both to win the game," added McGreal, who confirmed he is likely to make changes to his starting line-up for their game against Cambridge United on New Year's Day.

“We know the position that Chesterfield are in – they’re fighting for their lives and to be fair to them, they’ve got their boys passing the ball in the right way.

“I thought it was a good footballing match, at times.

“There’s obviously going to be mistakes because we’re looking to push on and kill teams and go where we want to go and Chesterfield want to get away from the bottom two."