Colchester United boss Kevin Keen has admitted facing a bigger challenge than the one he anticipated.

However, he insists on having no regrets about his decision to take the reins.

The U’s are bottom of the table, eight points from safety and without a League One victory since October.

And Keen has now made the worst start of any Colchester manager.

But when asked if he regretted his decision to take on the job, he said: “100 per cent not. I’m surprised by the question.

“I saw it as a fantastic challenge when I came in.

“It’s probably a little more of a challenge than I thought, but that’s down to the fact I haven’t been able to get the results the club needs.

“Perhaps it’s been a bit more of a challenge for me personally but I really believe the club’s going in the right direction.

“I believe we’ve got some fantastic young players and certainly in the coming seasons there are a real chain of them who can help this club move forward.

“We just have to keep working hard, keep doing things right and keep trying to improve on the training pitch.

“Eventually it will turn.

“It hasn’t quite come off yet, but it’s not for any lack of effort or organisation.

“You can see we’re trying to do the right things and put things in place for the future and there have been big positives since I came into the building.

“People keep telling me that and not just people from the club - people from outside it too.”

Keen was asked how he was finding the job on a personal level.

“I’m a bit up and down,” he said.

“Sometimes I can be positive. I’m relatively positive most of the time, certainly in terms of our performances.

“But at the same time, as a first-time manager, I’m thinking ‘we need to win a game. We need to win a game’.

“At times it’s tough, but I’ve got a good support group around me - my family, the chairman and David Wright.

“David and the chairman been really great and they can see things are going in the right direction.

“The chairman has been extremely supportive and can see improvements.

“In games, we’re still a team that is working very hard and trying to do the right things.

“We just need to win some football matches.

“Anyone who looks at the table and sees that we’ve won five games all season will think it’s going to be tough.

“It is going to be tough, but it’s do-able and we’ll keep going and keep doing our best.”

For a three-page preview of the U's game with Swindon Town, see Friday's Daily Gazette.