Freddie Sears believes Colchester United’s superb victory at Leyton Orient can be the catalyst for them to go on a winning run.

Sears scored one goal and made another for Sanchez Watt as the U’s battled the odds to claim a 2-0 victory at Brisbane Road, despite playing for more than half the game with only ten men following Magnus Okuonghae’s red card.

It was Colchester’s first win of the season in League One, bringing to an end their winless start to the campaign in style.

And ahead of their home game with Sheffield United tomorrow night, Sears says the U’s are on a high after finally getting off the mark.

Sears said: “It’s a massive boost and everyone has taken confidence from that.

“We’d been playing well and losing games and the win is the thing that matters.

“It was a really good victory and with only ten men, it was even better.

“The boys have put in a fantastic team effort and it’s what we needed.

“Once you get that win it kind of takes that pressure off you and hopefully we can go into the next games and get more points.

“People probably looked at these two games thinking we wouldn’t really get anything.

“But we’ve come away to Orient and won with ten men and it gives us all of the confidence in the world to play against Sheffield United and give our fans something to shout about.”

For more on this story and five pages of coverage of the U's win at Leyton Orient, see Monday's Daily Gazette.