Tom Eastman admits Colchester United’s crunch clash with Crewe Alexandra this weekend is a “six-pointer”.

The U’s head into their home showdown at the Weston Homes Community Stadium a point adrift of safety in League One.

But Tony Humes’ side know victory over Alex will lift them out of the bottom four and help them leapfrog their opponents in the table.

And centre-back Eastman, who has missed out on the League One player of the month award for January, knows that it is a vital game for Colchester.

Eastman said: “I guess it’s a six-pointer against Crewe and it’s really tight down the bottom.

“It’s a game where we’re both towards the bottom of the league and with it being at home, we’ll be looking for three points.

“We’ll probably be favourites with our home advantage but it’ll be a tough game.

“We haven’t had the best of home records but we’ll be looking to build on the Leyton Orient win.

“The aim is to get out of the bottom four.

“Since the turn of the year, we’ve fought and battled well and there’s also been quality where we’ve scored goals and won games.

“The first goal will be big on Saturday and hopefully if we can get it, we can build on that.

“Apart from their result at MK Dons, Crewe have been doing quite well recently.

“They’ll probably come to us looking to win but so will we.

“We’ll be looking to do what we did against Leyton Orient and build on the Bradford draw.”

For a three-page preview of the U's game with Crewe Alexandra, see Friday's Daily Gazette.