COLCHESTER United head coach John McGreal insists they must follow up their superb performance at Crystal Palace when they get back to League Two action, this weekend.

The U’s travel to Oldham Athletic this Saturday, still on a high following their outstanding penalty shoot-out win at Selhurst Park in the Carabao Cup.

The cup fever continued last night when Colchester were handed a plum home draw against last season's Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the competition.

The tie will be played next month but before then, the U's have some important league fixtures to contend with.

Colchester will be looking to make it back-to-back league wins when they travel to Boundary Park – and boss McGreal says they cannot afford to lose focus.

McGreal said: “We have to enjoy the moment but then we have to focus again, as we have another tough away trip on Friday (to Oldham).

“We do need to take it on, because how many times have you seen teams do what we’ve done (against Palace) and then have a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show and go flat.

“We can’t allow that to happen.

“Yes, we’ve got some heavy travelling again and I think four out of our last five games have been away.

“But we take it on the chin and move on.

“The boys are staying nice and fresh in training because they’re playing games.

“And when you’re winning games, in this type of form, you just want to play.

“We’ve got to bag this up with us and move on again, on Friday.”

Meanwhile, McGreal says Colchester's experienced players are helping to ease their young academy starlets into first-team action.

The likes of Ryan Clampin, Noah Chilvers and Andre Hasanally have all been involved at senior level for the U's, this season.

Chilvers hit Colchester's winning penalty in their shoot-out win at Palace, while Clampin has started their last four games at left-back and has been particularly impressive.

McGreal said: “The young players have been in and around it and they’ve got some really good pros with them.

“They get the backing from me and Steve (Ball) and that’s our remit this season, to bring the next batch of under-23s through.

“When it’s right, we’ll put them in.

“It’s a bit of a whirlwind for Ryan Clampin now, if you ask him.

“He’s played four games in a row now and he can be really proud of his performance.

“He has a good tutor alongside him in Pross, who really, really helps him."