A well-taken strike from stand-in skipper Harry Pell secured Colchester United a hard-earned draw at Tranmere Rovers this afternoon.

Pell struck just before the hour to secure a point for the U's at Prenton Park, cancelling out James Norwood's first-half opener for the hosts.

It was another battling away performance from Colchester, who improved in the second half after a somewhat flat first-half display.

U’s head coach John McGreal made two changes to his side for their game at his old club Tranmere.

Diaz Wright was handed his first-ever league start for the U’s, while winger Brennan Dickenson was also recalled.

Skipper Luke Prosser missed out, after effectively being shown two yellow cards in the U’s 3-1 win at Cheltenham Town.

Ryan Jackson was mistakenly booked by the referee for a second-half foul when Prosser was the perpetrator and the U’s defender was cautioned later in the match.

Brandon Comley also missed out on the Prenton Park clash as he was on international duty with Montserrat.

Pell skippered the U’s in Prosser’s absence.

Tranmere started brightly and U’s keeper Dillon Barnes was forced to palm Jonny Smith's curled low effort around the post for a corner, after five minutes.

Norwood then headed into the net for the hosts only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

Colchester slowly got into the game and Sammie Szmodics' long-range effort flew over from Luke Norris's pass.

But soon after, Barnes beat away Smith's fierce effort from 20 yards as Tranmere pressed.

And although Szmodics' shot dropped just wide after Ryan Jackson's ball into the area had caused uncertainty and a mistake from home skipper Stephen McNulty, the home side looked the better side.

Colchester were happy to be patient with their build-up, enjoying a lot of possession in their own half but less so in their hosts’ territory.

And although Frank Nouble blasted a decent opening over from the edge of the area after latching onto Frankie Kent's interception, it was Tranmere who looked the more threatening.

Ollie Banks dragged a low shot wide and Cole Stockton fired just over after turning neatly in the area, as the half ended with the hosts pressing.

And sure enough, Colchester fell behind three minutes before the interval when the in-form Norwood fired low and decisively past Barnes from Smith's pass, after Stockton had started a swift attack.

After a disappointing first-half display, the U's started the second half brightly and almost equalised just after the interval when Nouble's shot from the edge of the area flashed inches wide.

Colchester then had a decent shout for a penalty rejected soon after when Norris appeared to be tugged back in the area by McNulty.

Pell then came close to scoring from under the crossbar after Frankie Kent and Tom Eastman had both helped the ball on in the area but the hosts scrambled the ball away, as the U's pressed for an equaliser.

And Colchester were back on level terms on the hour mark through Pell, who fired in first time from the edge of the area after Davies had punched Dickenson's corner straight into the midfielder's path.

The contest was finely balanced after that and with 16 minutes remaining, Szmodics' low 25-yard effort forced keeper Davies to push the ball away to his right.

But Tranmere also looked threatening and Barnes makes a great save to deny Jennings' header from inside the six-yard box before recovering well to foil substitute Paul Mullin's follow-up.

Colchester sent on Mikael Mandron and Courtney Senior late on in a bid to grab a winner but the spoils were shared.