Sean Clohessy has warned his Colchester United team-mates to step up their efforts - or risk languishing in League Two.

Clohessy has lifted the lid on the clear-the-air dressing room talks that took place in the immediate aftermath of the U’s recent 4-1 defeat against Rochdale.

The full-back has experience of playing in the fourth tier with Colchester’s Essex rivals Southend United.

And Clohessy says he has no intention of dropping back down to that level with the relegation-threatened U’s, ahead of the Boxing Day clash with his former club Gillingham.

He said: “We have to stay up - we don’t want to be going down to League Two and I’ve told the boys that after the Rochdale game.

“I said “we don’t want to be sitting there quietly after every game, you need to look at yourselves”.

“League One and League Two are different.

“There aren’t too many grounds in League One that you go to and think “this place isn’t too nice”.

“But in League Two, you don’t want to be travelling to Accrington Stanley on a Tuesday night.

“It’s a different brand of football - it’s a lot more physical and with the young boys we have here, it would be a steep learning curve.

“It would be harder for them to develop playing in League Two and I’ve said to them that they need to look at themselves.

“At the end of the day, if we work our socks off and get relegated then you can’t query that.

“But the manner of some of the defeats recently haven’t been good enough and things had to be said.

“We need leaders - we said that after the Rochdale game, that if we’re going to sit here after a game and not talk then we’re going to get relegated.

“You have to step up - it’s only a short career and you don’t want to be in the lower divisions all of your career.”

For more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news, including a three-page preview of the U's game with Gillingham on Boxing Day, see Wednesday's Daily Gazette.