“EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong did go wrong.”Those were the thoughts of Colchester United boss Aidy Boothroyd following his side's 7-0 thrashing by Championship side Preston in the FA Cup third round.

Stuart Watson

“EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong did go wrong.”

Those were the thoughts of Colchester United boss Aidy Boothroyd following his side's 7-0 thrashing by Championship side Preston in the FA Cup third round.

The U's conceded two scrappy goals in the first half, but then capitulated after the break to concede five goals in little over 25 minutes.

“Everything that has got us success this season, everything that has become our hallmark, we didn't do today,” said Boothroyd.

“I think even if our players had been 60-70% on their games today then we would have had a very good chance of winning, but unfortunately some of them were only playing at 15-20%, while some were at ones and twos.”

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. They got the deflections, a penalty that probably wasn't, but we have to take it on the chin. We can't make any excuses.

“It was a very, very, very poor performance and the only thing that was consistent was our fans that were clapping and singing all the way through.

“I won't be brushing this under the carpet and writing it off as a freak result, but at the moment we'll get out of Preston as quick as we can. I've learnt a few things today, but I'll mull over them in some quiet time.”