Tony Humes praised the character of his Colchester United players after they recorded a vital 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Leyton Orient.

Goals from Gavin Massey and Kaspars Gorkss gave the U's an important victory and helped them leapfrog their opponents in the League One table.

Colchester remain two points adrift of safety but boss Humes believes the win, their first league triumph at home since October, will be a big boost for his players.

Humes said: "It was a huge game for us and the character of the players shone through.

"It will do wonders for them to go away and know that we haven't had another struggle at home.

“It was what we needed – we needed three points, nothing more and nothing less and we got it.

“To come out with a 2-0 win in a big game like that will give us an awful lot of confidence.

“The boys have worked hard all week and there have been some new faces coming in as well which takes a bit of time to adapt.

"But I thought the performance showed what the players are all about.

“I wouldn’t say it was the best that we’ve played this season but we dug in and we got three points out of it."

Humes believes Colchester scored at the right times in the game, with both of their goals coming in the opening stages of each half.

“I thought we started the game very well," added the U's boss.

“We got the first goal and then Leyton Orient came into it more but we defended really well.

“We scored again just after half-time and we needed that good start to the second half, because it gives you that little bit of breathing space which in the end we needed.

“I think it’s the second time this season we’ve scored from a set piece.

“It’s something that we had worked on last week and it nearly came off a couple of times (against Walsall).

“We worked on it again and Kaspars attacked the ball really well."

For five pages of coverage of the U's win over Leyton Orient, see Monday's Daily Gazette.