HAYDEN Mullins says he feels proud of his Colchester United players after they sealed their League Two status.

The U's beat Salford City 1-0 at the JobServe Community Stadium to confirm their Football League place for another season, with one game to spare.

Colchester's win over Salford and Scunthorpe United's draw at Bradford City meant Southend United joined Grimsby Town in being relegated from League Two, into the National League.

Mullins took temporary charge at Colchester at the end of March, with the team on the back of a run of one win in 25 matches.

Working with advisor Paul Tisdale he has done an excellent job, leading them to three wins and two draws in his seven games in charge - and the former Watford coach says he is delighted to have guided the U's to safety.

Mullins said: “I feel very proud, being able to lead the team in the last couple of weeks especially.

“I feel proud of the effort that the boys have given us and I feel proud of the performances and proud of the fact that we’ve done what we needed to do.

“It was a really tough couple of weeks but funnily enough, I did enjoy it!

“There’s a couple of times when you go home and you’re constantly thinking about players and tactics and areas of how you’re going to attack the game."

Colchester have taken 11 points from a possible 21 since Mullins took over alongside advisor Paul Tisdale, having prior to that won only one of their previous 25 matches.

“The key has been to settle the players," said Mullins, who joined the U's as assistant manager to Steve Ball, last summer.

“When we first came into the role, it was tough.

“We’d been on the back of a bad run and it was about getting the players to settle, calm them down and get confidence and belief back into them.

“I think they’ve shown that belief over recent weeks.

“The result against Oldham was a tough one but to bounce back after that with two wins was a great reaction from the group and we were so close to getting the point that we needed last week (at Cheltenham) but conceded late on.

“To come back and play well again (against Salford) was really good."

Colchester's final game of the season is against promotion-chasing Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park, next Saturday.

Mullins added: “There’s a lot to think about but what we have done is given ourselves a real platform to go and attack the last game of the season, under no pressure.

“It could have been different; I remember going 1-0 down against Walsall here and credit to the boys who came back and won the game.

“Had we lost that, Southend could have put real pressure on us.

“We’ve done the business in our home games over these last few weeks and we’ll enjoy the last game of the season."