Manager John Ward refused to be too downcast after watching his Colchester side fall to a 1-0 defeat at MK Dons.
Gary MacKenzie's 53rd-minute volley secured a ninth victory in 11 games for the promotion-chasing hosts, leaving the U's six points off the play-off places.
Ward said: "We were competitive, we've had three wins out of five so we're in decent shape. We haven't got a lot of bodies but our little run of form has given us a good start to the new year, although this result has gone against us.
"We played very well for an hour in the last game between the teams (a 5-1 win for the Dons in November) but then we dropped our shoulders and were well beaten in the end.
"But we didn't do that here - I'm sure Karl (Robinson, Dons boss) knew he might get a strong reaction from us and we did.
"We showed we're not a bad side, although we're not quite at the level of MK Dons. We'll give them a tough game every now and again - we didn't in the first game but we did here. We're doing alright, we're okay, I'm not going to go home and lose sleep over this one."
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