Karl Robinson takes Salford ‘back to basics’ to end losing streak

Karl Robinson felt his Salford side fully deserved their 1-0 win at Colchester to halt a five-match losing streak in all competitions.

Cole Stockton came off the bench to score the Ammies’ 78th-minute winner when he converted from a couple of yards, after Kelly N’Mai had got in behind the U’s defence.

The victory moved Salford into the League Two play-off places after their four successive losses in the competition had seen them drop outside the top seven.

And Robinson said: “I thought we played the game very well and deserved to win.

“I’ve been to Colchester many times and it’s a hard place to come and play.

“If you take away the double save from Youngy (Matt Young, Salford’s goalkeeper) from their chances, I thought we had more chances.

“I thought we entered their penalty box a bit more consistently.

“We’ve just got to find a way of being a bit more ruthless when we get into the final third.

“That will take the pressure off the defenders and it’s hard to keep clean sheets.

“We tried to go back to basics today a bit. We’ve always been a team of basics.

“I’m here to manage the football club and management means that you’re a shield to protect owners, players, staff and through all of the difficult moments, you’ve got to find that within you.

“I love my players and I really enjoy my time here.”

Colchester struggled to find their rhythm in the first half but improved after the break.

The closest they came to scoring was when Salford keeper Young made a brilliant double save to deny Teddy Bishop and then Kyreece Lisbie in quick succession, before Stockton struck the all-important winner.

Colchester boss Danny Cowley was frustrated with the manner of the goal they conceded to lose the game.

He said: “We’re disappointed that we didn’t play with enough rhythm in the first half and when we did find our rhythm in the second, we got into some good areas but we have to take the chances.

“It was a really disappointing goal to concede.

“I don’t think we defended the first one-v-one duel well enough and we allowed him to drive into our area.

“We need to be able to deal with that but I don’t think we get our decision making right or the execution of our footwork right to stop it.

“It was a really bad goal for us to concede.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy regardless of their recent results, where there are a lot of anomalies and we knew they are a good team.

“Even though they’ve got a lot of very good players, they play in a very purposeful and direct way.”