COLCHESTER United head coach John McGreal has warned his side will have to be on their mettle when they face Newport County, this weekend.

The U's are looking to move back into League Two's play-off positions with a win over the Exiles tomorrow, having dropped out of the top seven following defeat at Swindon Town.

But they face a Newport side who themselves still have a chance of the play-offs who have won two of their last three matches and reached the fifth round of this season's FA Cup, before bowing out to Premier League champions Manchester City.

McGreal said: “I’ve got to know Mike (Flynn) particularly well since I started managing.

“You know what you’re going to get against Mike’s team – a honest, hard-working group who get wins and have had a good season in the league and the cup.

“We know that we’re going to have to be on our mettle, because they’re quite a big team who score a lot of goals from set plays.

“We’re definitely mindful of what they’re going to bring.

“Paddy Amond has been brilliant for them and scored close to 20 goals in all competitions, I think.

“I think he scored in every round of the FA Cup including against Manchester City, which is no mean feat.

“He deserves it but it’s not just him we have to be mindful of.

“It’s also the likes of Jamille Matt, Ade Azeez from Cambridge and Ben Kennedy from Stevenage – there’s some good players there who are big and powerful and we’ll have to be mindful of that but also try and implement our style of play as well.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game.

“There’s different beliefs in how people play and do things.

“They’ve been successful in how they’ve done it and we’ve been successful in how we’ve done it."

McGreal knows that his side will have to be particularly aware of Newport's set play threat tomorrow.

“Set plays will be huge and looking at their goals of late, there’s a lot of set play goals there," he said.

“They launch it in and there’s a good thought process behind it – they mix their corners up and I’m sure Mike will bring in one or two different corners come Saturday, because he knows how important it is to get goals for his team.

“We’ll have to combat all of that and we’ve been thinking of one or two ways to do that this week.

"But we won’t get away from what we try and do and we have to stick to our beliefs."

McGreal has missed out on the League Two Manager of the Month award for February, after it was won by Bury boss Ryan Lowe.

However, the U’s head coach says he was proud to be short-listed for the accolade, after leading his side to two wins and two draws in their four matches last month.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be nominated.

“I’m really proud – I think it’s six since I’ve been here and I’m chuffed to bits with that.

“November was the last time I was nominated and it’s brilliant getting recognition for me and Steve (Ball), along with the likes of Rene (Gilmartin), Perry (Blanchette) with the sports science and Flynny (Tony Flynn) the physio.

“It’s generally me and Steve doing the work out there on the grass but it’s about the players.

“They’re the ones who try and carry out what you’ve asked them to implement on the pitch.”