John Ward, who was satisfied with his team's gritty display in a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday

COLCHESTER United boss John Ward highlighted the “annoyance” factor produced by livewire strikers Ian Henderson and Steven Gillespie, in today’s 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday.

Henderson’s third minute opener, set up by Gillespie, was cancelled out by Miguel Angel Llera’s 52nd minute equaliser for promotion-chasing Wednesday.

Ward said: “Sheffield Wednesday are a very powerful team, and we have matched them.

“They’ve got some big guys in there, so we took a little bit of a chance by playing Ian Henderson and Steven Gillespie at the top end of the pitch.

“Their movement and their annoyance to the big fellows was something I wanted from them.

“They gave Sheffield Wednesday problems and we got a nice early goal.

“We did all right, and I am pretty pleased.

“I want my players to enjoy these sort of games, and there was a good approach from my team today, coming after we let ourselves down on Monday (4-1 defeat at Bury),” added Ward.

Wednesday stay third in the table, but are now four points adrift of Sheffield United, who beat Leyton Orient.