a string of four consecutive defeats meant joe dunne lost his job and tony humes was appointed his replacement. colchester had an upturn in league form and leapt to mid-table, but soon a string of poor results mean the u's spent much of the campaign in the relegation zone. aside from after a home win over bristol rovers in february, united were in the bottom four from late november until the final day of the season, when results went in their favour and they beat preston north end to secure league one survival by the narrowest of margins.