Colchester United midfielder Alex Gilbey insists that the U’s have to “sort out” their home form, if they are to pull clear of the League One relegation zone.

Gilbey is confident that Tony Humes’ men will escape the bottom four, but results at the Weston Homes Community Stadium will have to improve, and markedly.

Only basement dwellers Yeovil Town have a worse home record than the U’s following the first half of the season – the U’s have won just two of their 11 home league games, drawing two and losing the other seven, for a meagre haul of eight points.

All that could change, though, over the next two weeks as the U’s entertain Walsall this afternoon, and then Leyton Orient the following Saturday.

“Results haven’t been great at home this season, and that is a major factor which we need to sort out this year,” admitted Gilbey.

“We need to start picking up results, in front of our own fans, and we now have a great opportunity to pick up two wins, against Walsall and Leyton Orient.

“I think when you play away from home, you have nothing to lose. You go out there thinking - ‘we are at their place, so there’s no pressure.’

“But at home you always want to impress your home fans.

“We need to take what we do away from home, into our home form. We just need to forget about the surroundings.

“Personally, I enjoy playing at the Community Stadium because I really enjoy playing in front of our own fans, so I enjoy every home game.

“But as a team, there’s a lot of pressure. We feel that we need to pick up a result every week,” added Gilbey.

Academy product Gilbey has been sidelined for six weeks with an ankle injury, which caused him to miss seven games.

But the 20-year-old is fighting fit again, and hoping to return to the squad for the visit of Walsall today – he could well make the substitutes’ bench.

“It the worst injury I’ve had so far in my career,” revealed Gilbey.

“You just feel like a spare part, watching from the sidelines.

“When you’re not training, you’re in the gym, on your own, because all the other guys are training outside. That can be really hard.

“It’s been really frustrating for me, especially watching the team not picking up the results. I just want to be out there.

“But I’m glad to be back in full training, with the squad, and hopefully I can now push on.

“I never expected us to be back down there (bottom four), with the quality we have in the squad. But we had a great win at Peterborough (2-0 last Saturday), and hopefully we can build on that result.

“I feel fit, and I feel sharp. I’ve done a lot of fitness work with Dave Carolan. Now I’ve got to work my way back into the team. With the win last Saturday, you can’t just expect to get back in immediately.

“Everyone is looking really good, but fingers crossed, I can get back in,” concluded Gilbey.