HAVING been at Colchester United since the age of eight, Noah Chilvers knows the fabric of the club like no-one else in the current squad.

The 23-year-old has already experienced some ups and downs in his embryonic career, from the high of making his senior debut five years ago and scoring the winning spot-kick at Selhurst Park to knock Premier League side Crystal Palace out of the EFL Cup, to the lows of battling relegation, over recent seasons.

As he approaches a 200-game milestone for Colchester, the talented midfielder has shown on plenty of occasions since making his senior debut for them back in 2019 that he is capable of stepping up on the pitch and leading by example.

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With the U’s battling to preserve their Football League status once again, the club’s vice-captain is naturally eager to play his part in their League Two survival.

Chilvers said: “Over the last two or three seasons, we’ve been in similar positions at this stage of the year.

“Obviously, it’s not a position that anyone wants to be in but when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

“That’s what we plan to do and the rest of the boys will be doing the same.

“No-one wants to be in this position but now we are, there’s only one way out of it and that’s looking forward and being positive.

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“Those past experiences, no matter how bad they were at the time, will help.

“All experiences can be spun into something positive and it will help having that.

“Like the manager has said, the feeling that we’ll have at the end of the season to come through all we’ll have to come through between now and the end of the season, will be more than worth it.

“We’re all together; you’ve probably seen a lot of other teams go against each other when the going’s got tough but we’ve got a really good group of boys, so there’s no danger of that.

“We’re all backing and supporting each other from now until the end of the season.

“The manager has been saying that it’s something that will live with you for the rest of your life if you’re part of a team that goes out of the Football League with a club like this.

“But I’m in no mind of thinking that will happen.

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“It’ll be a really proud achievement, if I do get to that personal milestone of 200 games, having come through the academy.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to and hopefully, as many from now until that 200 mark, will be wins.”

Colchester dropped into the relegation zone in midweek after their game against Doncaster Rovers was postponed and their basement rivals picked up points.

But the U’s have a chance to climb out of the bottom two tomorrow, when they host Walsall at the JobServe Community Stadium.

“It’s only natural to look at other results but I try to switch off,” said Chilvers.

“The main thing is that you can control what you can control.

Gazette: Noah Chilvers

“We take accountability for the things that we can control which is our results and performances.

“If we win more games between now and the end of the season, we’ll be absolutely fine and that’s what we’re planning to do.

“We’ve had a lot of possession in games but have not really been able to turn them into clearcut chances.

“That’s what we’ve been working on in training, combinations, partnerships and things that we can use to get us more clearcut finishing opportunities.

“Hopefully it’s one of those things where once one comes, they’ll start flowing in the final third.

“We’ve all got to take accountability for that.”

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Colchester’s clash with Walsall tomorrow will be their first home match for a month, following recent postponements.

Chilvers says the U’s fans can play their part in helping them secure a crucial victory.

Chilvers added: “In our last home game against Accrington, the fans were amazing.

“They were really getting behind us and that’s the sort of support that we need.

“Seven of our 11 games are at home – it feels like we’ve been on the road for months now.

“If we can make it a bit of a fortress and get a nice run going there, then that will stand us in good stead.

“We back ourselves to compete in every game and hopefully, we can get a run going and get ourselves out of the position that we’re in.”