Bongani Khumalo admits time is running out for Colchester United to preserve their League One status.

The U’s travel to play Fleetwood Town knowing that a victory is essential in their battle to avoid the drop.

Khumalo has had past experience of fighting relegation, having battled in the lower reaches of the Championship while on loan at Doncaster Rovers last season.

The on-loan Spurs defender knows it is time for Colchester to have brave hearts and minds, as the campaign reaches a dramatic climax.

Khumalo said: “When you’re struggling near the bottom, you need to be brave on the ball and off it.

“You need to have football intelligence and experienced players like myself need to pull their weight and help the young players in the squad.

“There’s a lot of learning and everyone has to learn quickly and realise what’s at stake.

“That’s football and you obviously live and die by the decisions you make on the field.

“I think the writing is on the wall now - we have three games left to go out there and go for it.

“We have to get points and go for the win against Fleetwood.

“But in saying that, we also have to manage the game and make sure we don’t lose it early on because that’s also a danger.

“We’ll be playing for our lives and we need to go about it in a diligent way - if we do that, we should be OK.”

For more on this story and a three-page preview of the U's game with Fleetwood, see Friday's Daily Gazette.