COLCHESTER United boss Steve Ball has called on his ‘invigorated’ side to seize their opportunity to move back up the League Two table.

The U’s travel to play Crawley Town today, having dropped to 18th spot in the division following an 11-match winless run.

However, Colchester have drawn their last two matches and have shown enough in their performances against Mansfield Town and Leyton Orient to suggest that their first win of 2021 is not far away.

A victory this weekend could lift the U’s as high as 12th in the table and boss Ball says it is ‘all systems go’ ahead of the trip to Broadfield Stadium.

Ball said: “All I know with this division is that if we get a couple of wins, we’ll go right up to top ten and that’s how tight the league is.

“That’s how we’re looking and we need to do it.

“We’ve been so close of late, even in the last couple of minutes against Mansfield, I thought we could nick a winner and we just need to get that win over the line and jump up that league.

“You see Bolton doing it right now and we can do that – I know we can do that, I believe we can do that and I’m sure we can do that.

“We have to understand that we’ve got a real opportunity to jump up that league, starting on Saturday.

“There’s a positive mood – to be fair, it’s been positive all through this patch.

“We’ve had five draws out of seven games now which isn’t ideal by any stretch but it shows we’re close.

“The draws have been against some good sides like Cambridge, Cheltenham and Mansfield who are form teams and we’re close.

“If it wasn’t for a couple of really disappointing goals conceded, especially the first one against Mansfield, we’d win the game.

“But the new signings that have come in have certainly invigorated things and we look a threat up top, so it’s all systems go now for Saturday.”

Colchester take on a Crawley side who themselves are eager to get back to winning ways, following a four-match run without a league win.

“I watched Crawley on Tuesday night (against Stevenage) and they should have won the game but they lost to a late worldy strike,” said Ball.

“I think it’s been one of those seasons where teams are going to suffer at times and look like they’re going really well and be really challenging and the next minute, look like they’re struggling and I think it is linked to the climate and having no crowds.”