‘Cruel’ Game For Players: Williams

Colchester United manager Geraint Williams felt it was ‘cruel’ for his players not to get anything from the game after losing 4-3 away to West Brom.

The U’s raced into a two goal lead but, in the end, could not prevent the Baggies from taking all three points at the death.

‘It is cruel for the players not to get anything after a performance like that which was full of passion and pride,’ Williams said post-match.

‘We didn’t defend well enough and to come to a place like Albion, score three goals and not get any reward is criminal.

‘We couldn’t see the job out and that has been a problem for us all season.’

The U’s boss rued: ‘We knew that West Brom would come at us in the second half but we put in a performance full of effort and it deserved some kind of reward.

‘If we could have got to half-time 2-0 up then things may have been different.

‘But West Brom keep going to the last. I hope they go up because I think they could have a chance to flourish in the Premiership with the way they play.

He added: ‘I won’t concede anything. We will go out and try and win every game. We want to give the fans backing for their great support.’

WBA boss Tony Mowbray said: ‘Even though we have won the game my emotion is disappointment.

‘The way we are defending at the moment is a huge disappointment.

‘I know we can’t be successful and get where we want to go if we defend like that.

‘There is a lot of work to be done on the training ground but we have been saying that all season.

‘Is it going to be our Achilles heel at the end of the season? I would suggest if we don’t find the improvement it may well be.

‘We know we can score goals and to score four is fantastic. To get the three points is a positive but there are to many negatives for my liking.

‘Going forward we can create problems. That is not a problem. The problem is when teams put the ball into our area. That is hurting us at the moment,’ he went on.

‘It is great we stuck at it and I am delighted the players got the points but we have to keep the ball out of our net and then we will be a much better team.

‘We have to attack each game this season and see where our journey ends.

‘If we lose in the semi-final and don’t win promotion it will be seen as a disappointing season.

‘But we have a chance to make it a wonderful season and we will be giving our best to achieve that.’