Aidy Boothroyd has admitted accusations of being a ‘long-ball manager’ got to him in the past.

Boothroyd was criticised in some quarters for adopting what they percieved as a direct style of play, while manager of Watford.

Some commentators felt Boothroyd’s Hornets relied too heavily on the long-ball, during their time in the Premier League.

However, the new Colchester United manager denies being limited to one particular style of play.

And he stressed that as a manager, his priority is to utilise his players’ strengths in order to mould a winning team.

Boothroyd said: “For a while, it got to me.

“But I’m a coach and I’ve worked at West Brom and Norwich, both footballing institutions if you like.

“They know how to play the game correctly and they know how to play out from the back.

“Some people will look for that sort of thing and you will usually be able to find it.

“It’s horses for courses.

“If you have a team that can play in a certain way, then that’s what you do.

“The best teams score a lot of goals and they keep a lot of clean sheets.

“My style is to win – I would never put a style of play on a team of what I wanted to do.

“If I had done that, then all of my teams would have played out from the back and been very creative but lost a lot.

“You have to get the best out of what you have got.”

Boothroyd will meet with his players for the first time today since guiding them to a creditable draw at Southampton last weekend, in his first game in charge.

The U’s battled against adversity after having Kem Izzet sent off and Pat Baldwin carried off in the first half, to clinch a draw at St Mary’s.

The draw leaves Colchester in seventh position, heading into this weekend’s trip to Swindon Town.

A lack of cup action means Boothroyd will have more time to spend with his troops on the training ground in the coming weeks.

First-round exits in both the Carling Cup and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy have meant the FA Cup is the only remaining cup competition available to the U’s between now and the end of the season.

However, Boothroyd thinks Colchester can turn that into a positive.

“It would have been nice to have got to Wembley and won the Trophy,” he said.

“To get some silverware is important and it would have been nice to have done the double and get promotion as well.

“But at this stage of the season, I think it could be an opportunity to do a lot more work on the training ground.

“As much as I’d have liked to have gone to Wembley, it’s probably better in the long run.”