WAYNE Brown says it is vital Colchester United 'play the match and not the occasion' when they host Oldham Athletic in a crucial six pointer this weekend.

The U's head into tomorrow's vital basement battle at the JobServe Community Stadium sitting three points above the League Two relegation zone - and two points above the Latics.

Colchester are desperate for a win to pull themselves away from the drop zone - but U's interim boss Brown insists it is not a 'must-win game'.

Brown said: “It’s important that we play the game and not the occasion.

“It’s important that we play the 90 minutes and not think ‘it’s Oldham, they’re two points below us and it’s a must win game’.

“If you do that, then the nervousness comes in and you stop doing things that you normally do, in a game of football.

“I wouldn’t say it was must win.

“It helps if you get three points but it’s three points that isn’t any more than we got at Salford or Leyton Orient.

“There’s 39 points to play for after this game.

“I understand why people say it’s a must win game, because of the position of the two clubs and three points would be massive in achieving our objective.

“But I wouldn’t say it was a win at all costs, must win – there’s loads of points to play for after this but we want the win, of course we do."

Gazette:

Colchester head into the match without a win in their last four matches.

The U's have conceded nine goals in their last four matches and Brown admits they will need to be better in both boxes against Oldham, if they are to secure the win they crave.

“We’re at the wrong end of the table for a reason because we’ve been conceding goals all season and not scoring enough," said Brown.

“That has to change and I think we’re creating more now and we’re playing a more positive game, to try and create opportunities to score which we’ve done in abundance, over the last few games.

“It’s just now having that little bit of quality and composure and ruthlessness, in their final third.

“The game is won and lost in each box and it’s about your concentration levels and it’s about being organised and defending well in your own box and then being ruthless and composed in the opposition’s box, to get your goals.

Gazette:

“We had the opportunities we had on Tuesday to do just that.

“If you add the two together, they become tight games which they’ve all been apart from the Northampton game.

“There’s loads of positives, we’re getting into good areas, we’ll keep encouraging the lads to do that and be ruthless in front of goal."