KANE Vincent-Young feels Colchester United have shown that they can go toe-to-toe with any team in League Two.

The U’s impressively stood up to leaders Lincoln City’s physical threat to win 1-0 last weekend, keeping a clean sheet against the division’s joint top-scorers to move to within a point of the automatic promotion places.

John McGreal’s side have looked a potent force themselves this season, hitting 30 goals in their opening 16 league matches.

But full-back Vincent-Young says their impressive performance against Lincoln is evidence that they can cope with the challenge of taking on different types of opponent.

He told the Gazette: “We’re a robust team and we’re very versatile.

“We can mix it up – we can play if we want to play but if we want to make it a bit more physical for a game like the Lincoln one, we can go toe-to-toe with anyone.

“That’s a really good string to our bow, because it means that we can compete with every team in the division.

“I think a lot of people would have expected Lincoln to come here and roll us over but that wasn’t the case.

“We believed that we could get three points and we’ve gone out and delivered.

“It was a big three points for us – we needed it, especially after last Tuesday (against Grimsby).

“That was a bit of a tough one to take but this was the perfect way to bounce back.

“It was also great to keep a clean sheet, especially against the team who were front-runners in the division at the moment.

“Credit has to go to Rene (Gilmartin) at the end for a massive save.”

Colchester are fifth in League Two and lie five points off top spot, ahead of their home clash with Swindon Town this weekend.

However, defender Vincent-Young insists they are staying grounded, despite their impressive form.

He said: “We can’t get carried away – it was a really good win over Lincoln but we’ve only won three points.

“It’s still early doors and there are 46 games in a season.

“We have another tough game next (against Swindon Town) and we’ll be looking to get another three points.

“Each game has its own importance.”

Vincent-Young was effective at both ends of the pitch for Colchester against Lincoln and almost grabbed his first goal of the season when he had a goalbound effort blocked, early in the game.

The 22-year-old added: “I haven’t scored in such a long time – I need to get on the scoresheet!

“I really enjoyed getting forward against Lincoln, especially from left-back as opposed to wing-back.

“I haven’t been able to get forward as much as I’d like from left-back but the (Lincoln) game was different – I really enjoyed it.

“I’m getting there with my form – I think there’s still more to come but the hard work continues.”