Colchester United SA chairman Jon Burns gives his U's views

It was brilliant to watch and I am hoping that the extra bums on seats, no matter how they got their tickets, also enjoyed it and will give the U’s another crack during the last two home games.

Whatever people may perceive about how the team may or may not play when the attendance is greater, no one can deny that it looks a better place with less empty seats, and surely the players think so too and try to respond to the atmosphere.

One swallow does not make a spring or summer though and all that. Three points and a plus-four boost to goal difference was great, but that same swallow is not out of the woods yet.

It will need to keep on flying strong and hard to Salford tomorrow and then down to Crawley next Tuesday night, where the importance level will shoot through the roof with so much at stake for both teams.

It remains squeakily tight at the bottom of League Two. Potentially five teams battling not to finish in the bottom two and have the ignominy of waving to Wrexham and hopefully Notts County as they pass by in the opposite direction.

Goal difference remains in our favour should points level up and I really cannot see Rochdale pulling up further trees and beating the promotion-battling teams they have left to play.

So it seems to be a contest for the four remaining teams, and Colchester United 100 per cent must not be the loser here.

To state the obvious though, it’s a rubbish feeling to be talking about survival for yet another season.

At some point, our luck bubble has to burst one day and I was honestly and seriously was thinking that this year would be it.

However, to bolster my morale and confidence we saw a good performance at Stevenage last Friday, where I was left wondering why they bother growing grass on their pitch, given the time they liked to hoist the ball into the sky.

And then John Akinde made the impact we all hoped we could do with a brace to set us on the way on Monday. Getting the ball to his feet inside the penalty area is a must for me.

It's a strange feeling but I have confidence and yet nervousness heading to Salford tomorrow.

I do really think that the U’s can get something from it.

There will be pressure on the home team to keep their play off place intact, and yet I think our defence can weather any storm thrown their way.

That leads itself to Big John holding the ball up nicely and Samson hitting them with youthful pace on the break.

My hesitation though comes from the knowledge it would not be the first time the U’s had followed up a good game with an indifferent performance.

Almost like “job done”, let’s just relax a little. That said, I don’t think that Ben Garner and his team are the type of guys to let that happen, and we are unbeaten in our three games there so the players will be wanting to carry that on.

Crawley will be a different kettle of fish. I do so hope for a strong referee for this one as it could get a little bit spicy on the pitch. I also hope that many of you will be making your way down towards Gatwick to support the U’s.

Our players will need our away end bouncing so they can feed off the energy that they’ll require to secure something from the game.

A big old week for the U’s then and by the next “Banter” I would like to be thinking that many more swallows will be in attendance.

We need to get through this again at all costs, so best of luck to Ben and his players and as always, thanks to those fans able to travel away to support them over the next week.

Up the U’s!