COLCHESTER United head coach John McGreal admits early mistakes cost his side dearly after they were beaten 2-0 at home by Oldham Athletic this afternoon.

The U's found themselves 2-0 down after 13 minutes against the Latics, following goals from Alex Iacovitti and Callum Lang in the League Two clash.

Both of the goals came from Colchester mistakes and despite a spirited second-half display, Colchester were unable to prevent a third successive home loss.

McGreal said: “We looked nervous and it’s cost us.

“We all make mistakes but at the minute, the key decisions that we’re making are really costly for us.

“They’re costing us goals and that’s been the problem.

“We’ve had a run at home which I haven’t had since I’ve been here, as such.

“We looked nervous and we made poor decisions that cost us.

“We gave it a go in the second half and the talk at half-time was to go for it.

“We changed one or two things and we wanted them to take the ball and to play into certain areas.

“But it shouldn’t be taking 45 minutes and another team talk for that to happen.

“It’s about us taking more responsibility on the pitch.

“Oldham put their bodies on the line and got some good blocks in but we made the wrong choices in the key areas.

“If we were a bit cuter and more positive we could have picked people out and got a goal.

"It's not through lack of trying in the second half but we gave ourselves a mountain to climb."

Colchester's defeat has left them two points off the play-off places in League Two, with five games remaining.

The U's head up to fellow promotion hopefuls Bury next weekend and boss McGreal says they have everything to play for.

"We're two points off the play-off positions and we were one point off it, going into this game," said McGreal.

"We have five games to play and everything is to play for - it's still within a game.

"As long as I've got a breath and we've got a position to win games of football to get us in there, we'll be pushing the boys to get us where we want to go."