DANNY Cowley says Colchester United’s main challenge is to turn their draws into wins ahead of their important clash with Sutton United this weekend.

The U’s head to Gander Green Lane aiming to put more distance between themselves and the League Two relegation zone, against the division’s bottom club.

Colchester lie seven points above the drop zone heading into the fixture after last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley, while hosts Sutton are seven points adrift of safety.

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The Us have drawn four of their first six games since the appointment of Cowley, who views tomorrow’s clash as a chance to secure a significant victory.

U’s head coach Cowley said: “Saturday is a really big game.

“It’s a great opportunity for us and one that we’re really looking forward to.

“Turning the draws into wins is the challenge for us.

“We had the Accrington game in a good place and just needed to be braver for longer and keep taking responsibility, getting on the ball and trying to make things happen and find that second goal.

Gazette:

“I never like my players to play with fear; I want them to see the opportunity and when Accrington went down to ten, I thought it was a really good opportunity for us to really get control of the game.

“There were lots of take aways from that game, but it’s a different opponent on Saturday.

“We have an internal pressure and that pressure is to perform consistently well.

“We are working towards that and I think good teams do perform consistently well.

“We’ve played well in periods of games and the aim now is to try to sustain that period and also, get a really good value when we are playing well by being ruthless."

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Sutton are still searching for their first win since Steve Morison took over as their manager, last month.

Each of their last three games have ended in one-goal defeats - but they have pushed the likes of Wrexham and Bradford City hard.

“I have a huge amount of respect for Sutton,” added Cowley.

“When you look at what they’ve done as a football club in recent years - the way they’ve transitioned from a non-league team to a Football League team has been fantastic to see.

Gazette:

“We watched their games against Bradford and Wrexham and you’ve only got to look at the statistics in those games – they should have won both but they didn’t and sometimes, that’s what happens when you’re down there.

“I think they’ve got a lot to like in their team and they ask a lot of questions.

“They’re a really direct, physical team and very, very competitive.

“I think Steve Morison has had a good impact since he’s been in and I have a lot of respect for what Matt Gray and Jason Goodliffe did there, coming from Conference South all the way through to Football League and then being really competitive.

“They were a top team in League Two last year which was an incredible journey and I was so sad to see both of them lose their jobs – it seemed so unfair almost, because they’d overachieved and done remarkable things."