Cowley proud of Colchester defensive improvement

Danny Cowley became Colchester head coach in January

Colchester United boss Danny Cowley believes "defending early" is the key to his side's recent improvement.

The U's are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions and have not conceded a goal for seven hours.

Bradford City were the last team to score against them in a 1-1 draw on 18 November.

They have also managed six clean sheets in League Two this season, compared to five in the entirety of the 2023-24 campaign.

"We've found a nice rhythm and we've got good confidence but we're certainly not getting ahead of ourselves. We know what we have to do to perform well, both with the ball and against the ball and that's very much where our focus lies," he told BBC Essex Sport.

"Defensive organisation has always been the foundation to our success (at other clubs). It gives you a platform as a team and to go seven hours without conceding is a real team effort.

"It's never just a goalkeeper and a back four, it's a collective effort. We've defended early - if you defend your half well, you don't have to worry so much about defending your box and defending your goal."

Colchester are at home to Newport County on Saturday and Cowley is expecting his side's ability to deal with crosses will be tested.

"They have a real threat from crosses - they have good combination play from their full-backs and wide players and have Kyle Hudlin, who's six foot nine and a real handful, so being able to stop crosses and defend with aggression and intensity is going to be really important," said Cowley.

Colchester are 18th in the table, seven points clear of the relegation places and hope to have striker Samson Tovide available again.

Cowley added: "There's still a long way to go to where we want to be. We're still very much a work in progress. We're enjoying the process of trying to get better. We come in every day and work hard, it's a really good attitude for us all to have."

Lyle Taylor scored both goals in Colchester's EFL Trophy win against former club AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday and now has seven for the season.

"You get the plaudits as a striker, but you're not the one who does all the donkey work. When I did (do) the donkey work, I missed," he said.

"All forwards just want to score goals, it doesn't matter what competition it's in - even if it's in training, there's nothing better than hitting the back of the net. Hoppes (Tom Hopper) will tell you that, Samson will tell you that.

But he added: "It's not the Lyle Taylor show, it's very much the Colchester United show. We are now so much more organised than we were, and it's giving us really good turnovers at important times as well."