Matty Etherington insists his Colchester players “let themselves down” after suffering a chaotic 5-3 League Two defeat at AFC Wimbledon.
Josh Davison and Joe Lewis both grabbed doubles for the hosts at Plough Lane as Asian Cup-bound Iraqi international Ali Al Hamadi also netted.
Cameron McGeehan, Joe Taylor and Tom Dallison all scored for the Us, though McGeehan was sent off in the closing stages for a second bookable offence.
Colchester have now suffered five away league defeats on the spin and Etherington criticised his players for their character in the capital.
The former West Ham and Stoke winger said: “I have been a player, they don’t want the manager coming out and saying they have let me down – but I think they have let themselves down.
“What will be will be with me, but they have let themselves down.
“If they play like they did second half it is going to be a long season, if they play like they did in the first half, they will be absolutely fine.
“It was a fairly even game first half, but for some reason we decided to come out in the second half and be really naive in our first few moments.
“It set the tone for the second half – it was poor. There was no excuses for it, it was really poor second half.
“Maybe fatigue set in a little bit and maybe poor decision-making.
“We have lots of young players in the team, really good young players but they need to grow up at this level. The whole team does.”
Both teams scored inside the opening seven minutes as Davison and McGeehan got the game off to a thrilling start.
The away side took the lead when Taylor beat Alex Bass before Wimbledon found an equaliser when Lewis headed home.
Davison fired the hosts back into the lead before Al Hamadi scored their fourth.
McGeehan was shown a second yellow card late on as Lewis netted a second in stoppage time, with Dallison’s goal nothing more than a consolation.
Dons boss Johnnie Jackson, whose side now sit in the play-off places, said: “I’m delighted – I thought we were brilliant from nearly start to finish.
“There was a period of the first half where they were slightly on top, but I thought we gained in control towards the end of the first half and in the second half we have been completely dominant in the game and scored five goals.
“We could have and should have scored more and looked a real threat all night.
“Coming here off the back of a difficult day three days ago and get the response that I have got, I cannot ask any more.
“I thought both lads (Davison and Lewis) were brilliant and delighted that they have got the goals. I have been asked for defenders to chip in more, hats off to Joe for that.
“Obviously, you want your strikers to be scoring the goals and for Josh to get his brace tonight, and I’m delighted for him.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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