KEEP the faith! That is the plea of both the manager and the players at Colchester United, ahead of tonight's home game against Stockport County.

Carl Marston

KEEP the faith! That is the plea of both the manager and the players at Colchester United, ahead of tonight's home game against Stockport County.

A trio of defeats, with no goals scored, has all but scuppered the U's hopes of reaching the League One play-offs, but that's not a view shared by insiders at the Community Stadium.

Boss Paul Lambert is not giving up on a top-six finish, and nor are his players. Morale remains high, but only a victory will do for the U's tonight.

“We are not going to give up,” insisted Lambert, a sentiment echoed by his key midfielder David Perkins, who said: “We can still make the play-offs, if we can go on a great run.”

The U's really need maximum points from their home games against Stockport (tonight) and Hartlepool (this Saturday) to give themselves a fighting chance of gate-crashing the top six by the end of the season.

And that's because, although there are still 15 matches left, the U's face some daunting trips during March. Four of their six fixtures next month are away from home, all of them against teams who are currently above them in the league. It is a tough schedule.

Last season, Southend United finished in the sixth and final play-off berth with 76 points. Taking that as a guideline, the U's would need to accumulate 34 points from their last 15 games.

That would mean they can only afford to drop 11 more points during the run-in - a huge ask.