Colchester United head coach John McGreal said he was pleased with both his side's win and performance after they beat promotion rivals Luton Town 2-1 this afternoon.

Chris Porter's first-half brace proved enough to give the U's a vital three points in their bid to reach the League Two play-offs, despite Isaac Vassell pulling a goal back for the Hatters late on.

The win moves Colchester to within two points of the top seven, leaving McGreal a happy man.

He said: "We'll take the win - that's what is really important.

"It would be great to get the performances with it and I thought we did today, at both ends of the pitch which is pleasing for us and the fans and hopefully it's something to build on away from home next week.

“It was excellent and I thought some of the football in the first half from the lads was exceptional.

“The first-half performance against a terrific Luton side who keep going and going was excellent and they had to change their shape from their diamond.

“They reacted from last week and that’s the group as a whole – every time we’ve had a defeat we’ve been able to bounce back and they showed that.

"It was a shame that we didn't keep the clean sheet and Walks (Sam Walker) was disappointed as he wants his clean sheets.

“We’re going to give it a right good go.

"While it's mathematically possible to do it, we'll keep going and you've seen the character of the group."

McGreal had special praise for striker Porter, whose two goals have taken his season tally to 13 and elevated him to the status of Colchester's leading scorer.

McGreal added: “Ports had a little bit of time away at his sister-in-law’s wedding but maybe that just gave him that spring in his step to come back and prove that he’s not going anywhere with a couple of goals.

“We’ve been getting a lot of crosses in the box and not being able to get on the end of them but we’ve stuck with the boys up front and they’ve been prolific.

“Chris got across the front man a couple of times and got the goals."