A second half equaliser from Filipe Morais rescued a point for Phil Parkinson's side at the Coral Windows Stadium after an early strike from Colchester's Chris Porter had given the visitors the half time lead.
After scoring against Chelsea, Stead was on hand to assist Morais' goal during the Colchester encounter, as Parkinson's men returned to league action with a hard-fought point.
Speaking post-match, the in-form forward said: "This game (vs Colchester) was always going to be a difficult one after the highs of last weekend (vs Chelsea).
"There was a bit of pressure to impress again after the Chelsea victory.
"The pitch was a difficult one as well but it was the same for both sides.
"For sixty minutes or so, we were good today (Saturday). We've played in the right way and at the right tempo.
"We were pushing for the goals at the end, it is just the first twenty minutes or so, similar to the Yeovil game, that has cost us again.
"That has to fall squarely on our shoulders. The manager sets out his game-plan beforehand but we were just really disappointed with our first twenty-twenty-five minutes of the game.
"That period, ultimately, has cost us the three points.
"After the opening period, we have rallied and we could have nicked a goal ourselves just before the break.
"We've come in at half time, perhaps lucky just to be a goal down given the early chances they had, so we knew we were still in the game and that it was going to be a big second half for us.
"We did everything right after the break, got the goal, and we could have nicked it at the end.
"We are just disappointed that we haven't started the game right and done the things we know we should have done on our pitch."