Colchester United have improved in this area under Cowleys

But Colchester United’s new management duo have already made progress in one particular area, as they strive to lift the club away from relegation danger.

The U’s have struggled defensively all season and have conceded 55 league goals so far, more than any other team in the top four divisions of English football.

Colchester have conceded an average of 1.96 goals per match and have managed only three league clean sheets, all season.

READ MORE: Former U's favourite rated one of Scottish football's best defenders

Their xGA (Goals Expected Against) is 1.66, the worst of all teams in the EFL League Two this season.

The figure is calculated by FootyStats who use a combination of shot accuracy (on/off target), shot frequency (number of shots), attack dangerousness, overall attack pressure (possession amount and depth of possession) to come up with expected goals figure for each team in League Two.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, on the evidence of Colchester’s last two games.

In the U’s last game, a 1-1 home draw against Bradford City, their xGA was 1.46, an improvement on their seasonal average.

And in the Cowleys’ first game in charge at Swindon Town, which finished in a 2-2 draw, the statistic was even better with the hosts’ xG just 1.05.

“We’re not governed by stats and I know supporters hate them, but they give you good information and there are certain statistics that do allow you to assess your team performance, in certain areas of the game,” said U’s boss Danny Cowley.

“The expected goals against has been really low.

“We’re disappointed we’ve conceded three goals.

“Bradford asked so many questions in our last game – they put so many balls into the box and so many numbers into the box.

READ MORE: Danny Cowley excited by U's forward options despite Joe Taylor exit

“They do cause a real threat in that area and actually, the team historically has suffered against more direct teams.

“For us to stand up and commit the way we did particularly in the first half when we weren’t playing so well was credit to everyone.

“What I was most pleased about with regard to the performance against Bradford was the response.

“It’s not easy when you haven’t played well in the first half as a player, to then come out and play with real character but I thought the group did that.

“Having watched it back, I think in the second half we were the better team.

“I thought we dealt with direct play really, really well against Bradford.

“We were really pleased with the way that we dealt with their directness.

“I thought we did a good job as a team in stopping crosses, a good job of defending the frame of goal in open play and a really good job of putting our body on the line from set pieces.

“We were really happy with that aspect of the game.

“I think the areas for us to keep working on are what we do with the ball, so that we can play with much more speed and much more purpose.

“I think that definitely improved in the second half but still lots of work to do.

READ MORE: Former Colchester striker is backing Cowleys to keep club up

“I believe we’ve made the team more resilient and harder to beat, which I think was the starting point and now of course the ambition is to try to find the way of winning the game because we know that in football, particularly modern-day football, it’s three points for the win so it’s always for us about going into every game with the ambition to win.

“We’re building foundations; we’re growing and we’re improving and there’s so much learning, even from Saturday.

“There was some learning the players took from Saturday that we haven’t actually got to yet; if you could get a team playing to your team idea - in possession, out of possession, transitions, restarts, both boxes – in ten days then I probably wouldn’t be here!

“It is something that takes time.

“It’s constant rehearsal on the training pitch and trying to find little opportunities to learn, off the pitch, keep trying to accelerate the process and to keep getting everybody to firstly understand what we want to do and then to apply it under the pressure of a matchday and the pressure of good teams.”

Colchester have 18 games remaining to improve their defensive record further and pull away from the drop zone.

The U’s next game is their trip to play Morecambe next Saturday, following the postponement of their match at Salford City.

“We’re just focused on getting better,” added Cowley.

“I’m not a coach that really gets too drawn into the outcomes.

“For us, it’s to keep getting the process right; we know that if we get the process right day to day and week to week that we’ll continue to grow and continue to improve and ultimately, the outcomes will start taking care of themselves.

“That’s just how we work.”