Colchester United head coach John McGreal insists his side still have it all to play for in League Two – despite seeing their stuttering start to 2018 continue.

The U’s 1-1 draw by Grimsby Town at the Weston Homes Community Stadium has left them five points off the play-off places – and seven points away from the automatic promotion spots - with 17 games remaining.

Colchester, who have now gone five matches without a victory, had to battle from behind to claim a point after Sean Murray’s fine strike cancelled out Charles Vernam’s well-taken opener for the Mariners.

The U’s produced a much-improved second-half display after a flat first-half performance and boss McGreal says it could prove to be a valuable point.

McGreal said: “The performance had to improve in the second half, because it wasn’t good enough.

“But in the second half, the boys put in a good performance and we’ve got something out of the game.

”It could be a precious point looking at all of the results, because everyone loses games in this league no matter who they are.

“It’s a point that keeps us in and around that top seven and it’s still all to play for.

“We're going to get these sticky performances and it’s how we come through it.”

McGreal took off defender Ryan Inniss and replaced him with attacker Courtney Senior at half-time in the Grimsby clash, switching to 4-3-3 as a result.

The U's boss revealed that the Crystal Palace loanee, who was recently returned to action following a shoulder problem, suffered a minor ankle injury in training the day before the Mariners clash.

McGreal added: “Ryan went over on his ankle a little bit (on Friday) and his shoulder as well, I just noticed it when he was going up for a couple of headers.

“We had to make a change anyway and we were deciding which way to go.

“We were always going to go with the 4-3-3 and it was just a case of weighing up the options."