THE U's Carabao Cup adventure continued after their impressive win at Crawley Town.

All ears were glued to the radio and the draw for the quarter-finals.

I will admit that in light of recent draws and the FA Cup bye that was given, I thought we would get Oxford United.

But alas that was not the case and we got Manchester United away.

The papers and television pundits are already talking about a potential banana skin and an upset.

I get what they are saying but they should not put Manchester United down.

I know they are having a bad season but to describe them as Colchester’s banana skin is maybe a step too far.

I’m already looking forward to our trip up there and, all joking aside, do think we have a fighting chance to knock them out.

Back to the more important business of the league and there was no cup hangover on Saturday, as we produced another tantalising display and got another three points at Mansfield.

I will admit I missed the first half due to my own football commitments with Peterborogh United’s Amputee Team.

In the process, I also seem to have missed the goal of the season by Brandon Comley.

The second half I did see and the final score of 3-2 flattered Mansfield.

We should have put six or seven past them and had the game out of sight.

But we still got the win and saw Harry Pell in a Colchester shirt for the first time since the opening day.

It is great to see him back, but I do feel for John McGreal and Steve Ball in their selection headache as who would you drop out of the current XI?

The FA Cup starts for us on Saturday with League One Coventry coming to town.

They normally travel well and will bring a fair few fans.

With our current form, I can see us winning what will be a hard-fought game and the start of another cup run and more adventures in what is already a successful season.

That said, no matter what happens in the cups, success or failure will be what happens in the league.

We are hitting form and clawing our way up the table.

What is good this season is that for once we are talking about players returning from injury and suspension, rather than our growing injury list of past years.

The exception is, of course, the loss of Luke Norris.

Hopefully his strain will not be a major setback and we will see him back in contention very soon.

The away trip this weekend also saw the fan numbers return to normal faces.

It will be interesting to see how many miles the away fans have clocked up following the lads up and down the country.

I, for one, have loved it and am not sure what else I would spend my Saturdays doing.

I hope I speak for the majority when I say that the group who do follow the lads away week in, week out are a close-nit bunch, always welcoming to anyone who wants to come along and join in the fun.