Joe Dunne said his Colchester United side deserved their vital 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town.

The U's are now five points above the League One relegation zone, following their crucial win at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

U's boss Dunne said: "It's a win - somebody would probably say we were expected to beat Shrewsbury.

"But we know how hard it is, because we were where Shrewsbury were last year.

"What we've done is gained a bit of distance.

"There's still ten games to go but we have to win more games.

"There was a real desire to win the game and the team deserve it and so do the staff.

“It’s a win against a team who could have closed the gap on us and now we want to get some more.

“It was a real team performance - I thought we dominated the game and we made some good chances.

“The back four were disciplined as they have been for a long time, the midfield had the legs to get around people and the front four had the energy we wanted.

“I think overall we were comfortable in terms of defending our lead.

“We hit the bar twice but you have to keep believing and the good thing is that we’re creating chances, which is important."

Dunne was full of praise for all of his players but in particular striker Jabo Ibehre, who scored Colchester's all-important winning goal just before the hour mark.

Dunne added: “I thought we had some really good play and I’m pleased for Jabo – it was an excellent goal.

“It was a wonderful goal and a great piece of skill.

“We’ve been encouraging him to get shots in on goal and he did that.”

For a full match report and pictures from the U's win over Shrewsbury, see Wednesday's Daily Gazette.