Colchester United head coach John McGreal bemoaned his side's lack of creativity after they were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw by bottom club Newport County this afternoon.

The U's were not at their best and struggled to break down a well-organised Exiles side, as their run without a League Two stretched to five matches.

The closest Colchester came to scoring was in the first half, when Drey Wright's excellent long-range strike skimmed the top of the crossbar before sailing over.

McGreal said: “I thought we looked defensively sound but we’re disappointed that we didn’t create more chances.

“We have created one or two chances that we didn’t take with the likes of Denny Johnstone and Kurtis Guthrie and in a tight game like that, that’s when you do need to take them.

“The decisions we made in the top third were poor by our attackers.

“Newport probably had their new manager watching from the stands and we knew it was going to be tough and they got bodies in behind.

“In the first half, we didn’t move the ball quickly enough into pocket areas and in the second half, we were a bit static and ran in straight lines.

“The clean sheet is a positive and we looked really solid, so that’s the most pleasing thing to come out of it.

“We might have lost this kind of game last season and it’s a building process – that’s what we’re here to try and do.

"It's frustrating though that we can't turn these tight games into draws and looking at the league, there must be about eight draws.

"We're middle of the table and Newport are bottom but they are tough games every week and we have to realise that it's not going to be a walkover - the sooner we realise that, the better."