A point to prove

WE have another tough away game to look forward to on Saturday, with a trip to play Mansfield Town.

I’ve said before that I expect them to be up there challenging for automatic promotion come the end of the season and we’ll have to show a lot of character there, because they’re absolutely flying.

I expect it to be a lot like our game at Notts County, on the opening day of the season.

We’ll go to Mansfield with a bit of a point to prove, coming into the game on the back of the cup defeat at Cheltenham.

It’ll be a tough game but we’ll try and keep things going and pick up results.

One thing’s for sure – we can’t turn up and play like we did in the first half at Cheltenham.

But we will go into the game with a lot of confidence, after our 2-0 home win over Port Vale last weekend.

It was a nice way to make my home debut and we got the win, which was the most important thing.

Our fans really enjoyed the day and on another day, it could have been four or five and we know that we have to take our chances in games, when they come along.

We know that any team can beat any other in League Two and that’s why when the opportunities come, you have to put them away.

We can learn from shoot-out experience

OUR penalty shoot-out defeat in the Carabao Cup at my old club Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night was obviously a bit of a blow.

But I thought we showed a lot of character to come back into the tie and take it to a shoot-out and that was a positive.

We let ourselves down in the first half but at the same time, when the season is so young you can learn a lot from that kind of experience.

The learning curve we’ll get from it will be big and even though it was a negative, we can turn it into a positive.

We know that it wasn’t good enough and we were grateful to get ourselves back into the game.

People might say there were a few changes to the team and there was a sickness bug going round but we can’t give excuses.

Cheltenham were much better than us with their overall play in the first half and I can’t really put a finger on why that happened.

We were sloppy in possession and it we weren’t as compact as we have been.

We made a poor start by conceding early and that made things difficult for us.

As I said in my first Gazette column last week, the season isn’t going to be all plain-sailing.

It’s going to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

Happy to take a penalty

I THINK our penalty shoot-out at Cheltenham was my first as a professional.

I was happy to take a penalty, even though I got a bit of stick from the Cheltenham fans before I took it!

I was never going to shy away from taking one and the likes of Nos and Courtney deserve credit for stepping up, even though they missed.

It wasn’t to be but the main thing is that we address that first-half performance.

I was glad to get a good reception on my first return to my old club Cheltenham and I expected that to be the case.

Even though I left there for Colchester in the summer, I still have a lot of friends there.

I desperately wanted to win the game but at least we do have the chance to go back there in a couple of weeks’ time in the league and get the job done.

The cup is important but the main objective for us this season is the league.

Percentages all add up

SO apparently new Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has eased the strict rules put in place by Antonio Conte on things like nutrition and pre-match routine.

With the way that football is, the percentages all add up and things like diet are so important.

I’m very professional with what I eat and drink away from the training ground, as well as when I’m there.

Since I’ve come to Colchester, I’ve had a diet plan drawn up by the new chef here and it’s an option that the boys have, should they want it.

The food’s fantastic at the training ground and they’re trying everything they can to give us the best possible advantage.

I’m 26 now and the next three years are going to be massive, in my career.

I feel that I’m going to be at my peak in that time and I hope that will be reflected in how I perform at Colchester.

Taking a punt

I’M football mad but I’m not really that keen on other sports – apart from horse racing.

I’m a gambler and when I was at Cheltenham, I got to know the racehorse trainer Fergal O’Brien quite well and went along to Chepstow with him.

I and a few of the other boys went to Cheltenham races and I found it very enjoyable – especially as I personally had a good one!