LUKE Gambin insists Colchester United have plenty of momentum behind them ahead of their sell-out Carabao Cup tie at Crawley Town tonight.

The U’s head into their fourth-round showdown with the Reds in confident mood, following an impressive 3-1 win at Newport County and a creditable draw at League Two leaders Crewe Alexandra.

Colchester will also be feeling bullish about their chances of progression, after stunning Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace in the rounds preceding tonight’s game.

And as he prepares to return to his former club Crawley, winger Gambin feels it is a match that the U’s should relish.

Gambin said: “It’s a massive game for us and everyone’s looking forward to it.

“It’s a great game to be a part of and you want to play in games like this.

“You play football for moments like this especially a cup game and it’s massive for the club.

“Everyone’s up for it and looking forward to it and players relish these moments.

“We’ve had tough games in this competition and we’ve found ways to win.

“Both of our last two games have ended in penalty shoot-outs but we’ve won them both and that’s a massive achievement.

“We’re well prepared for whatever happens.

“Momentum is definitely with us after beating two Premier League clubs and it’s going to be a great opportunity for us.

“We’ve had a couple of really good performances recently.

“We got a great point at Crewe which could have been a win and the Newport win was a brilliant result for us.

“Trying to get through to the quarter-finals shouldn’t be any added pressure on the squad.

“We’ve beaten the likes of Tottenham and Palace and this is just another game.

“I’m confident that if the boys play how we’ve been playing, we can do well.”

Gambin made 28 league and cup appearances for Crawley last season, while on loan from Luton Town.

But the 26-year-old insists that his past involvement with the Reds will have no influence on how he approaches tonight’s tie.

“I’m going back to Crawley but it’s any other game really,” added Gambin, who missed Colchester’s league visit to Crawley earlier this month as he was on international duty with Malta.

“It’s nice that we’ll be playing League Two opposition and we know more about them than Premier League teams, because we didn’t know what kind of teams they were going to put out.

“But we know the players that Crawley have and it’ll be nice to go down and get a result.

“It’s going to be sold out and we will give our all.”