SOMEONE, somewhere will need to make a few decisions about the fate of the EFL Trophy soon.

I am struggling to find its purpose in an already busy first half of the season.

And whilst I enjoy watching the U’s play in any game of football, when fewer than 1,000 turn up for a knockout cup game with the final stages within touching distance, you have to wonder if the costs outweigh the benefits.

The cost of injuries to key players is also a worry and it was tough to see Ryan Jackson limp out of the action early on Tuesday night.

All of this aside, the U’s crashed out badly and disappointingly, courtesy of a first half more aligned to the efforts put into a training game, the clever yet annoying dark arts of the opposition and I'm afraid to say it, some really sub-standard officiating.

The U’s were off the pace by miles during the opening 45 minutes and but for Ethan Ross saving their second penalty, which wasn’t a spot-kick in my opinion, the tie could have been out of sight before the half-time oranges.

After what was no doubt a severe ear-bashing in the changing room, our guys came out and played much like their old selves to dominate the

remainder of the game.

We missed a centre-forward, though. Too many times we broke forward and too few attacked the penalty area.

The players who like to find space outside the box need to take the plunge and get up close and personal with opposition defenders too.

We also missed Ben Stevenson badly.

Other than that, I’m sure with a few adjustments which I think need to come after Tuesday’s game, John McGreal will have them fired up for Salford City tomorrow in an important return to league action.

Nothing less than a win will do to keep pace with the teams above us and it will be the same thing at Scunthorpe next Saturday.

They must not let a certain future cup game cloud their minds and efforts at this stage, otherwise all of the work in making this showcase fixture will have been a waste of time.

I hope to see more than 1,000 there tomorrow, making plenty of noise and really getting behind the players please.

If you can make it, then many thanks for your support.

Banter with Burns with Colchester United Supporters Association chairman Jon Burns