Colchester United midfielder Craig Slater says their injury-hit squad must show character to get back to winning ways against Wycombe Wanderers tonight.

The U’s head into their clash with the Chairboys having suffered back-to-back defeats in League Two and will be again without a host of first-team players due to injury.

Slater admits Colchester’s performances in their last two games have not been good enough, following successive defeats against Accrington Stanley and Crawley Town.

But the U’s can move back into the play-off places with a win against their old foes tonight and the former Kilmarnock man has stressed now is the time for them to show their mettle.

Slater said: “The last two games haven’t been good enough. Everyone in the dressing room knows that but we need to be positive and bounce back.

“It’s hard to put your finger on why it happened, especially as we’d been on a good run.

“Obviously the Crawley game wasn’t great and neither was Accrington but listen, that’s football and we need to show a bit of character.

“If we want to do anything this season, then we have to start picking up points fast because we’re running out of games.

“But there’s still plenty of points to play for and we just need to be positive going into the Wycombe game.

“I’m sure if we play the way we can and the way we had been up until the last two games, there’s no reason why we can’t get the three points.

“Hopefully we can turn up and put in a really strong performance.”

Slater has been nursing a groin problem over recent weeks but insists he is happy to play through the pain barrier and help injury-hit Colchester.

He said: “It’s obviously been a niggle for a number of weeks now but I just want to play games, try and help the team and give everything that I can.

“There are a few boys with niggles and they’re the same. The state that we’re in, we’ve got a lot of injuries and everyone needs to be giving everything - niggles are part and parcel of the game.

“I just want to be out there playing – we’ve got some important games coming up and I don’t want to miss out.

“I’ll do as much as my body will let me do and we need everyone on board.”