BEN Stevenson helped to ensure Colchester United go into their big cup-tie with Crawley Town on a winning note – and then vowed to help them put on a show for the fans in the Carabao Cup clash.

Stevenson found the net with a fine strike in the U’s 3-1 triumph over Newport County, his first goal in more than 18 months.

And having contributed to Colchester’s latest victory, the midfielder now wants to carry that winning form into tomorrow night’s game at Broadfield Stadium, where a coveted quarter-final spot is at stake.

Stevenson said: “I think we’re taking 1,700 Colchester fans to Crawley – that’s great support and I’m sure that it’ll help us a lot on the night.

“We’re hoping that we can put on a show and we’re all really looking forward to it for the travelling fans and looking to get through.”

Stevenson says it was a ‘great feeling’ to end his long wait for a goal against Newport.

His last goal came in Colchester’s 2-1 win back in April, 2018.

“I’ve been waiting to get off the mark since the start of the season,” said the former Coventry City youngster.

“I didn’t actually see where the ball went, as I fell to the ground.

“I just hit it before I took a little bit of contact which knocked me over.

“As I hit the ground, I heard the cheer and just got up and then ran over to the fans – it was a great feeling.

“I don’t score many goals but when you look at the ones I do score, they tend to be out of the box.

“I’ve been told to shoot more and we’ve all been told to chip in with goals and not just rely on the strikers.

“It does bug me not scoring because it’s the best feeling you can have really and I want to get in more positions where I can score more goals.”

Colchester have bounced back to form after back-to-back defeats, taking four points out of a possible six in their last two games against promotion contenders Newport and Crewe Alexandra.

The U’s fell behind to Tristan Abrahams’ early strike but after Ryan Jackson equalised, Stevenson but the hosts ahead before Courtney Senior wrapped up the points in the second half.

Stevenson added: “We had a point to prove really and we wanted to show everybody how good we really can be.

“There’s still more to come – we conceded a goal and we don’t want to do that but had it not been for the start, I think it would have been the perfect performance really.

“I’ve been told we had 64 per cent possession I’ve been told and we have the players to create chances so if we can play like that, it’s a big positive for us.

“We didn’t perform how we wanted to and how we know we can against Morecambe so it was important to firstly have a reaction against Crewe, where we worthy of at least a point.

“Having a game in midweek was probably what we all wanted, to try and get straight back out there and get things right.

“We started off a bit sloppy (against Newport) but credit to them – they were sitting off us and forcing us into making mistakes.

“After that, I think it was pretty much all us and I just felt there was a lot more to come from us.

“The teams we’ve played in our last two games are top of the table teams, so to beat Newport in the manner that we did was very positive and we’re all very happy with that.”