Walsall boss Mat Sadler admitted his team weren't themselves as they slipped to defeat against mid-table opposition on Saturday afternoon.
Going into their meeting with Colchester United on the back of a 4-2 triumph over Newport County, the Saddlers were unable to lay a glove upon their opponents as goals from Samson Tovide and Kyreece Lisbie saw the U's make the most of their dominant spells, whilst Walsall struggled to fin their feet.
Speaking to the media shortly after full-time, Sadler said: "We weren't us first half, anywhere near it.
"They changed things around, they did something they hadn’t done before, and I think it caught us on the hop a little bit.
"I say that kind of loosely really because I think regardless of that, we just didn't work hard enough in that first half.
"We didn't work like we work. We didn't work in the way that we expect of each other — that intensity, that drive, that athleticism, and we didn't allow any of that to come into the game because out of possession we were too standoff-ish and then in possession, we were too eager to go forward.
"It wasn't us first half. We own that."