COLCHESTER United assistant manager John Ward hopes last night's Essex derby victory will help Aidy Boothroyd through a difficult time.

Stuart Watson

COLCHESTER United assistant manager John Ward hopes last night's Essex derby victory will help Aidy Boothroyd through a difficult time.

U's boss Boothroyd was in Essex with his wife at 5.30pm last night when he learned of a family illness.

On his 39th birthday, the U's boss took the decision to drive back to the Midlands and leave his assistants John Ward and Joe Dunne in charge.

Following Colchester's 2-0 win, Ward said: “We talked about (Aidy) prior to the game and said that, while we couldn't help his situation, we could make him feel a little bit better about the football.

“We talk about dealing with things that are thrown at you at this club and the players, having only found out at the last minute, dealt with it really well.

“It was the right thing for Aidy to do, he has trust in the people here and we have proven that trust to be right.”

Reflecting on the win, Ward added: “We survived a bit of early pressure in the second half and gave a great account of ourselves.

“We knew that Saturday's results would be no good if we didn't come out and get three points ourselves and thankfully we have done that.”