Wayne Brown praised the effort of his Colchester players after they beat Port Vale 1-0 to claim their first home victory since November.

Tom Dallison’s 85th-minute header from Noah Chilvers’ corner earned the relegation-threatened U’s a crucial win, ending Vale’s nine-match unbeaten run.

Interim head coach Brown said: “It makes a change for the lads, having that feeling in the home dressing room.

“They worked extremely hard and were extremely disciplined.

“It was a really good performance, something that we’ve put a little bit of work into on Friday.

“It was all about nullifying their threat and that’s why we set up the way we did.

“We knew that they would push their two wing-backs on in advanced positions and it’s something we had to look after.

“I thought we could have been better on the ball at times, but we knew with their expansiveness that there would be spaces to exploit.

“It was all about the lads keeping the belief and keeping the discipline, because we knew that we were always going to get a chance and that proved the case.

“We’ve all got to stick together, keep the faith and keep buying into getting three points.”

Dallison’s header settled a drab affair at the JobServe Community Stadium.

David Worrall fired into the side netting for Vale early on and Harry Charsley shot straight at Colchester goalkeeper Shamal George.

Colchester striker Freddie Sears’ shot flashed wide, but, after the break, George saved Worrall’s deflected shot before pushing away Mal Benning’s attempted cross from underneath his own crossbar.

After Dallison had given Colchester the lead, George then made a fine save from substitute Jamie Proctor as the hosts held on for a precious win.

Vale boss Darrell Clarke was absent because of a family bereavement and assistant Andy Crosby said: “I am bitterly disappointed.

“In the first half we were outfought and outbattled.

“We got outrun, we did not win enough duels and when we got the ball we were so ponderous and so slow.

“We did improve in the second half and won more of the ball, but we were still lacking creativity in the final third.

“We committed the cardinal sin of conceding a goal from a set-play with five minutes to go.

“We did not come here to draw 0-0, take the clean sheet and the point and move on.

“We should be coming here and dominating, with or without the ball.

“The players have heard my feelings. I am upset and angry because I expected more from them.

“We are going to have to improve over the final 13 games because as things stand we are going to miss out on making the play-offs.”