Danny Cowley insists Colchester still have work to do to secure their League Two status despite their vital 2-0 home win over Grimsby.
Colchester took a fifth-minute lead through Tom Hopper, who ran onto Arthur Read’s excellent pass and coolly lifted the ball over goalkeeper Jake Eastwood and in.
And John Akinde sealed the Us’ victory in the 79th minute when he lifted a fine effort from just inside the area into the far corner, from Noah Chilvers’ pass.
The victory relegated Forest Green, who did not even play on Tuesday night, but Colchester boss Cowley said: “We’ve still got work to do but I think we can be really pleased with ourselves tonight.
“I thought we had a really good first half an hour and went 1-0 up, could have gone 2-0 up.
“But we didn’t go 2-0 up at that time and probably in the middle part of the game, there was a bit of a storm.
“We lost Alistair Smith which was a big loss and came out and tried to keep the same system that just didn’t quite work, with the personnel.
“So then they were quite gung-ho and loading six on the attacking line so we went to a back five and I think once we did that on maybe 50 minutes, we got a foothold back in the game and looked a real threat on the counter-attack.
“We had numerous chances and it took a Glenn Hoddle-esque chip from John Akinde to win us the game.”
Grimsby, who are not yet mathematically safe, pushed hard for an equaliser after falling behind early on and Donovan Wilson and Harry Clifton went close to levelling.
But despite Colchester defender Tom Dallison being dismissed for a foul on Justin Obikwu in stoppage time, Colchester claimed victory.
Grimsby boss David Artell said: “If I give anyone the hairdryer treatment, it’s for lack of effort and there wasn’t lack of effort tonight.
“That’s the only time I’ll get irate and it’s not my job to shout at people – it’s my job to help people get better.
“Do you ever get a teacher shouting at a 10-year-old? It’s his job to help them.
“For me, it’s about standards, it’s about making sure with that final pass and that was the difference tonight.
“It’s about having those standards from where we are to maybe that next level.
“They’ve picked a team to try to outmuscle us and win those set-pieces and we’ve stood up to all that, which is credit to the players, but it’s that difference between the ball going behind someone and not through on goal and actually someone scoring the goal.”
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
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