Colchester United fan Si Collinson gives his U's views

As has been the norm since Danny and Nicky Cowley took over, the U's away fans were vocal from the off and if nothing else shows further proof that the connection between the club and the fanbase is improving week in, week out.

However, as fun as it might be with the atmosphere and a new-found excitement about game day, it is of course on the pitch that is where the true action is played out.

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Unfortunately, the instant impact they have had on the fans has not yet been matched with the same trajectory on the pitch, with a second successive game drawn after taking the lead.

It was a case of strong start, positive attacking football to get the goal.

Then we were victims of our own mistakes and a failure to do the basics right that not only led to their equaliser, but also prevented us from threatening the hosts' goal as much as we should have.

It was only Owen Goodman's second-half penalty saving heroics that prevented Sutton from taking all three points.

With Forest Green winning, they closed the gap.

We sit fourth from bottom on 31 points, eight points clear of Sutton (with a game in hand on them) and five points clear of Forest Green, having played the same amount of games.

Then there is Grimsby just below us on 30 points but they have a game on hand over us and we still have to play them.

With Doncaster the team in 20th and one place above us on 39 points, they have a big enough gap to reasonably be discounted.

So with all that said, in my humble opinion the realistic relegation picture is that Sutton have left it too late to up their required points per game to escape the drop.

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That leaves one from us, Grimsby or Forest Green to lose out and occupy the final relegation spot.

Every game is must win and no matter what, we need to start turning draws into wins.

Yes I understand that we have only lost once under the Cowleys' arrival and that should breed confidence etc, but mathematically we are losing two points from games, rather than gaining one.

I know it is all simple on paper and we can look at the moments in game and say where we should have done better.

The fact does remain however that we are not playing to the required levels for a whole 90 and this is punishing us.

Danny said in his post-match interview that he does share the fans' frustrations as he feels the same and is working on it day and night to change.

This season is about survival; the fans are behind the Cowleys and trust them to turn our fortunes around.

Get to May as a League Two club and that’s box one ticked, then the bar rises to really judge the impact they are making.

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I’m just mentioning this as there have been a few questions raised as to why the fans' full-time reaction is so different to that of another management team.

We know what they have inherited and how bad things were before the turn of the year and given a summer transfer window along with a pre-season, they can really stamp their mark on the team.

But please Danny, let's have another win to celebrate sooner rather than later. Up the U’s.