Hereford United boss Simon Davey rued missed first-half chances after his side crashed 3-0 at home to higher-graded Colchester tonight in the first round of the Carling Cup.

“When we had five or six chances we didn’t finish them off. If we had gone in with the chances in the first half it would have been a different outlook,” said Davey.

“Manny (Mathieu Manset) had a good chance – he should have headed it but he didn’t head it and there was also a penalty decision which should have gone our way.

“Little things like that change a game. Colchester will be a good side in that division this year and they passed the ball well and they finished off their chances.”

Davey felt the Bulls gave Colchester too much respect in the first half.

“In the first half we probably gave them a little bit too much respect and we were not close enough to them. But we still had the better chances and we came in at half time 2-0 down.

“The first goal was a great volley and the second was a passing move which was straight out of the tactics book. That’s football at League 1 level. We’re striving to become better and this will go a long way towards our learning curve for this season.”

He added: “I can’t fault the lads for their work-rate and attitude – it will be a little bit of a kick up the backside.

“We are disappointed – we’re out of the cup and nobody likes to go out especially in a home game.”