Colchester United’s Brennan Dickenson insists that it is time “to dig in” and “to keep believing in ourselves” ahead of the final five fixtures of the season.

The U’s suffered a big blow, in terms of their play-off hopes, when slumping to a 2-0 home defeat to Oldham Athletic on Saturday, their third home loss on the trot.

As a result, John McGreal’s men have slipped to two points and two places adrift of the League Two play-off zone, and that gap will be extended to four points if seventh-placed Exeter win at relegation-haunted Macclesfield tonight.

“We just have to dig in and do what we can,” explained Dickenson.

“We have got to believe in ourselves, everyone of us, from the players right through the rest of the back-room staff, and especially the fans – we want them to keep believing in us.

“We keep bouncing back, and now we have got to do that again.

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“We need the fans to stick behind us as much as possible. It’s frustrating for them, but it’s also frustrating for us,” added left-sided specialist Dickenson.

On a personal level as well, it has been a frustrating last few weeks for Dickenson, who has largely been employed as a substitute rather than getting a chance in the starting line-up.

The 26-year-old was introduced as a 71st minute substitute against Oldham, and made a favourable impact as the U’s tried in vain to mount a late rally.

“I hope to get more game-time. I just have to keep working hard, keep my head down and do all the right things,” said Dickenson.

“If the manager (McGreal) decides to pick me, then I think I am ready for the task. We will just have to wait and see.

“The start wasn’t great (against Oldham), to go 2-0 down so quickly, but the boys came out well in the second half and, when the subs came on, I feel they did really well.

“You could see that we put a lot of effort into the second half, but unfortunately it just wasn’t our day. You get those days sometimes when chances just don’t fall for you. As well as that, it’s also about us not being clinical enough in the final third.

“We have to try and take some positives, and push onto next week,” added Dickenson.

The U’s are way at fourth-placed Bury this Saturday.