HEYBRIDGE Swifts boss Cliff Akurang will treat Colchester United with the respect they deserve.

The Ryman League division one north outfit are preparing for the visit of League One’s U’s to Scraley Road tomorrow as part of their ongoing pre-season preparations.

Swifts began their warm-up matches with a 1-0 defeat of Coggeshall last weekend but will have bigger fish to fry this weekend.

Swifts will be the first of boss Tony Humes’ run-outs for his U’s side after they staved off relegation with a 1-0 win against Preston North End on the final day of the 2014-15 season.

Akurang knows it will be a tough test for his Swifts side.

He said: “We have got to give Colchester the respect they deserve. We can’t go into it trialling players.

“I am going to have to put out the strongest side I can, which is bit difficult when some players are still on holiday. But hopefully we can give them a good game.

“The main thing about the match is to see where the benchmark is.

“It is to see how our players stack up against League players.

“Because that is where all our players want to play.

“We will be able to see what areas they do better in than we do. Then we can see what things we need to work on.

“It will be good for me as well to see how the U’s do things; things that I can learn from in my managerial journey.

“It is also a nice game for the boys as well. It’s going to be a big day with a great atmosphere. And I will be able to see which players can handle the big occasions and see who deals well with it.”

The match kicks-off at 3pm but Swifts are staging a family fun day with gates opening at 12 noon.

Pre-match entertainment will include stilt walkers, fire eaters, face painting, hair braiding, bouncy castle and an inflatable goal for some shooting practice.

Children will also have the chance to get involved in a pre-match training session with the Heybridge Swifts first-team players as well as take part in a penalty-shoot out.

Streetlife driving school will be in attendance showing off some speedway bikes and custom bikes for enthusiasts. Admission prices are £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £1 for children.