TWO-GOAL hero Kwame Poku admits Colchester United must now strive for consistency after helping them claim a comfortable win at Carlisle United.

The 18-year-old struck twice in the U’s 3-0 victory at Brunton Park, a result that lifted John McGreal’s side back into the League Two play-off positions with nine games of the season remaining.

Colchester now lie sixth in the table after bouncing back impressively from their home defeat at the hands of Cheltenham Town.

But the U’s have not secured back-to-back wins since December and attacker Poku says they are aiming to change that statistic, ahead of their home clash with Scunthorpe United this weekend.

Poku told BBC Essex: “It was a good performance after what happened last week (against Cheltenham).

“We felt a bit hard done by with that result but we came out with a good attitude (against Carlisle) and we’re back in the play-off positions again, so we’ll look to push on.

“Now it’s about the consistency and getting wins on the bounce; we’re focusing on each game and trying to win that.”

Poku scored either side of half-time at Carlisle to put Colchester on the right path to victory.

He gave the U’s the lead just before half-time when he finished superbly with a curled left-foot shot into the far corner of the net off the inside of a post, after Ryan Jackson had collected Frank Nouble's pass and picked out the teenager.

And after Luke Norris had doubled Colchester’s lead late in the first half, Poku added his second of the game just after the interval with a low volley from the edge of the box after Nouble had linked up well with Ben Stevenson.

“I mis-controlled the ball (for the first goal) and I’m surprised it actually went in,” added Poku, who has now scored five times for Colchester in all competitions this season.

“It went in and that’s all I’m happy about.

“I had to generate some power with my shot; I saw two players running towards me and I tried to get as much power behind it as possible.

“We should have about two goals before we scored the first but once we got it, we looked in control I felt from start to finish.

“Previously when we’ve gone one ahead, we’ve probably just defended but we’re trying to kill games early – that’s the main thing.”