HE had sung the praises of Colchester United’s business model, prior to his side’s visit to the JobServe Community Stadium.

In the end, it was Mansfield Town boss David Flitcroft and his victorious team who enjoyed the short-term profit, after launching a second-half comeback to win.

In the build-up to the League Two top-five clash, Flitcroft had waxed lyrical about the U’s ‘thriving’ academy and the way in which they have been producing home-grown players.

But the Stags’ approach is somewhat different; earlier this season, their chairman John Radford publicly said he has provided his manager a top-three League Two budget for the third year in a row.

Indeed, the fact that they were able to snap up two new players on loan from higher divisions in the days preceding their trip to Essex is perhaps telling, when examining the respective circumstances of the two clubs.

Mansfield’s capture of Nottingham Forest’s creative midfielder Jorge Grant and Charlton Athletic striker Nicky Ajose ultimately gave them the edge they needed against the U’s.

Ajose scored one goal and made another while Grant provided the assist for Tyler Walker’s equaliser, capping a fine individual display.

Both were impressive performers.

“I thought Jorge Grant made a massive difference for them in the middle of the pitch, especially in the second half,” admitted U’s boss John McGreal after his side’s defeat.

Colchester’s excellent first-half display against Mansfield was a credit to McGreal and his management of a squad of which a large part is made up of home-grown players, rather that outside reinforcements.

Their opening 45 minutes was well worthy of a side chasing promotion back to the third tier and they fully deserved their 2-0 half-time lead.

But Mansfield’s spirited fightback after the break had just as much quality – and was inspired by Grant and Ajose whose presence has increased the number of loanees they currently have in their ranks to five.

In contrast, Colchester currently have no loan players following Aaron Collins’ return to Wolves earlier this month.

And McGreal’s admission last week that they had missed out on targets to bigger clubs in this window was pretty telling.

“We’re trying to bridge these gaps with these big boys in our league and we’re nearly there,” said McGreal after his side’s painful defeat.

Flitcroft did not appreciate some of the rhetoric of Colchester’s players in the build-up to the match, which highlighted Mansfield’s ample budget for League Two.

But while it is true to say that the U’s academy is thriving and producing talented players, it would equally be naive to ignore the Stags’ superior spending power – and the difference that it can make at this level.