Humes fumes as Colchester fold

Colchester boss Tony Humes questioned his players' desire after his struggling side were thrashed 4-1 at home by Rochdale.

The U's fell to a fifth straight league defeat, while Dale cruised to their first away win since October. U's boss Humes said: "It was very poor and there's going to have to be an awful lot of analysis of players looking at their own performance and how much they wanted to be out there, which is a very sad thing to say. "I think you have to question their desire - if you look at the manner of the first three goals where there's players free because players haven't stuck to their job and haven't taken their responsibility to do their job. "It's far too easy so I'm questioning their desire, their attitude to hard work and whether they know their jobs." Matthew Lund gave Rochdale a 26th-minute lead after Colchester goalkeeper Sam Walker had parried Michael Rose's free-kick. It was 2-0 three minutes later when Peter Vincenti converted after Walker had only pushed away Matt Done's effort. And after Henderson struck the crossbar, Rochdale went 3-0 up four minutes before half-time. Henderson scored from the spot after Kaspars Gorkss had tripped Stephen Dawson in the area. Gavin Massey fired in from 25 yards to give Colchester hope, less than five minutes after arriving as a half-time substitute. But Rochdale restored their three-goal advantage six minutes later through Jack O'Connell's far-post header from a corner. "We were in the game until the first goal," Humes added. "How many times have we said that recently - that first goal goes in and we dip and that comes down to character, attitude and individual responsibility. "But you can't give goals away like that - you can't do it and it's unacceptable." Rochdale manager Keith Hill was in more upbeat mood. Hill said: "I'm happy with the result and I'm happy with the majority of the performance. "I think at times, there's too much pressure heaped on us. "There was an expectancy to come here and win which is what we wanted to do. "But I don't think the football club at this moment in time is in League One. "We're not a League One football club - Colchester are and they've been in this division for seven seasons, so they're established. "I'm really pleased with the players and there was no concern with me in terms of them performing. "It was a disappointing November but we're not disappointed with where we are and the standing that we have in League One. "This result and this performance reflects what we're capable of doing as a squad, as a football club and as a team and I'm really pleased. "The players are really good to work with."