I FIRST started watching Colchester United in 2005 - and I think this is the best sustained period of form I’ve seen from them.

I really enjoyed watching us the season before last when we just missed out on the play-offs but this seems better, so far.

We’ve got the best goal difference in the top four divisions at the moment and that’s really something.

And the great thing is that we’re effective at both ends and we’ve conceded only five goals so far, in the league.

For the fans, it’s very reassuring to see and it’s great to see us looking good going forward and also safe at the back.

I remember a few years ago now when we were drawing games 4-4 against the likes of Walsall and Wigan Athletic but now we look a lot more solid.

I think some of that is down to our goalkeeper Dillon Barnes, who has done really, really well since coming into the team.

He’s only young but you can see that he’s improving by the day.

I think the chairman Robbie Cowling deserves credit for putting his hand in his pocket and backing John McGreal, this summer.

Harry Pell in particular has been a great signing and has brought something not just in terms of his football ability but also his character and personality off the pitch.

He’s making a name for himself amongst the fans and a lot of people I know have now bought shirts with Pell on the back, which shows the impact he’s made.

It’s another example of the bond being strengthened between the fans and the club and makes people feel that it’s just not a football club but more of a community club and the fan engagement has improved.

I think the club have moved forward in that respect, over the last few months and I would say it’s probably the best feeling we’ve had at the stadium for a long time.

It was a very good result for us against Cambridge United last weekend and I was lucky enough to chat with Joe Dunne for around an hour, about the game.

He felt his Cambridge side were unlucky against us, especially in the first half.

We had our chances against the run of play for both of our first two goals.

He was frustrated and from his point of view, they were just lacking that goal.

In a way, it’s been a similar story for us over the last few years, up until this season.

One thing Joe wanted to say was thank you for the great reception that he received – he was really pleased with that.

But he didn’t like our drum, purely because he felt it was spurring us on too much!

I’m driving up to see us play Oldham on Saturday and I’ve been watching us play away from home for goodness knows how long.

We’re playing another side who have come down from League One, having lost to Northampton Town a few weeks ago, our only league defeat of the season so far.

I think that could potentially be our most important game of the season, in that it showed us what we need to do in order to do well.

Oldham will be a massive test and there are three big games for coming up for us now, with Bury at home and then Yeovil Town at home to follow.

I think the next three games will allow us to see going forward if we are going to be genuine promotion contenders.