WAYNE Brown believes Colchester United’s fans can play an ‘integral’ role in helping them stay in the Football League.

The U’s host Oldham Athletic tomorrow knowing that a win against their fellow strugglers will give their League Two survival hopes a huge boost.

Colchester are hoping their supporters will get behind them at the JobServe Community Stadium, as they go in search of a precious first home win since November.

And interim head coach Brown says U’s fans have been ‘first class’ since he took over, last month.

Brown said: “The fans are doing brilliant.

“At Northampton, the fans showed their frustrations after the game.

“From an outside point of view, it’s cost them to get there and I understand a lot of them had difficulty getting there on trains, so I understand their frustration.

“I really appreciate the backing they’ve given us not just at Northampton but at Salford, Orient and Mansfield – they’ve been first class.

“They were frustrated (against Hartlepool) – you can see that there’s an aura in the ground and at 1-0, there’s a nervousness which is only natural looking at what we’ve done at home this season.

“But the fans have been absolutely first class since I’ve come into the environment and they’ve got behind the lads as best as they can.

“They will continue to be an integral part of achieving what we want to achieve, this season.”

Gazette:

Colchester are without a win in their last four matches and find themselves perilously close to the League Two drop zone.

The U’s have plenty of experience within their squad to try and help them get out of trouble but Brown insists it is the responsibility of everyone in the squad to try and turn around their fortunes.

Brown said: “No-one wants to be in the situation that we’re in but we are and that’s a fact.

“You’re in there to do a job and you have to stand up and be counted.

“The older pros will have had experience of this before and the experiences that they’ve had before can only be of benefit to us.

“But it’s about everyone taking responsibility and doing everything they can when they step over that white line to try and be the best player on the pitch – that’s got to be your mentality as an individual.

“If you’ve got 11 players who have got that attitude and mentality, then we’ll be OK.

“Confidence plays a part in where we are at the moment but it’s about everyone – old and young – sticking together and getting the best out of each other.”

Colchester will tomorrow be aiming to return to the kind of defensive form they showed in the opening games of Brown’s interim spell.

Having conceded just twice in their first four matches under Brown, the U’s have shipped nine goals in their last four fixtures.

“What’s not pleasing is that we’ve gifted other teams goals when we’ve got secure possession and that’s something we need to address, as individuals, as units and as a collective group,” added the former U’s defender.

“That’s where teams have got their joy against us and as long as we concentrate on what we do and we make better decisions with the ball then we’ll create more chances and we won’t be as expansive on transitions to let teams get goals.”