Ex-Portsmouth, Charlton and West Ham man sparks humiliating defeat against Football League's bottom club

Forest Green had lost six successive matches and were at the foot of League Two heading into Saturday’s clash with Colchester United.

Yet a red card for Colchester’s Jay Mingi heralded a thumping 5-0 victory for Rovers, who managed to scramble off the bottom of the table in the process.

The hosts were already 1-0 up through Callum Morton’s goal when Mingi collected a second yellow card in the 47th minute to reduce his team to 10 men.

The ex-Blues midfielder brought down Tyrese Omotoye near the halfway line while on a swift counter-attack, earning the 22-year-old his marching orders.

Subsequent goals from Kyle McAllister, Matty Taylor and Matty Stevens (two) secured a crushing triumph for David Horseman’s troops.

Colchester themselves have now lost five games out of six in all competitions, with the deadline-day arrival of Mingi so far unable to address their awful start to the season.

Having rejected a new three-year deal at Fratton Park, the former West Ham and Charlton man joined the League Two club for an undisclosed fee.

Pompey reached agreement on a compensation figure, with both clubs keen to avoid a tribunal setting the figure following his transfer.

Mingi, who spent two years on the south coast, has since played eight times for the U’s, with Saturday representing his fourth start.

Yet two bookings inside 37 minutes earned him the first red card of his Football League career and will warrant a one-match ban.

Mingi wasn’t the only one with Fratton Park links in Colchester’s side for the 5-0 defeat, with Cameron McGeehan also featuring.

The former loanee, who has netted twice in six matches since joining on a free transfer from Belgian side Oostende, started alongside Mingi in the centre of midfield for the clash.

Defeat now leaves Ben Garner’s side above the relegation zone on goal difference, albeit with one game in hand on bottom pair Sutton and Forest Green.

Garner has been with the U’s since March, overseeing six wins in 26 matches, with 13 defeats, after replacing caretaker boss Ross Embleton.