Colchester newest arrival Jay Mingi had mixed feelings about his U's full debut.
His first start for the U's ended in a disappointing defeat at the hands of a Tottenham Hotspur U21s side that extended their winning run at the start of the season to six matches.
Mingi admitted that he and his teammates weren't happy at the end of the game, saying: "Everyone was flat, some were speechless. Obviously it wasn’t a nice result and it was a tough one to take."
"I know it was a very negative experience, but we have to take as much learning as we can because I think you learn more from the difficult moments rather than when everything’s going great.
"That’s the only positive from this – we can learn from it and build from it."
Having made two subsitute appearnces for the U's, the twenty two year old was glad to make his full debut, and is enjoying being back in a squad environment.
"From a personal point of view, it was a blessing to get a start and I’m grateful always because I haven’t started a game in a really long time.
"I was training by myself for a long time, so being out there makes me realise what I’ve got and you’ve got to cherish it."