ANDY Bond has no doubt that Colchester United will “pick themselves up,” following the midweek reverse at Yeovil, for this Saturday’s difficult League One opener at Preston.

Midfielder Bond had a frustrating night at Huish Park, as the U’s bowed out of the Capital One Cup 3-0 in disappointing fashion.

But the ex-Barrow man will be ready and waiting for a stern test at Deepdale.

Bond insisted: “Now we will go again on Saturday. We’ll pick ourselves up for a hard game at Preston. Hopefully, the Yeovil game was just a glitch.

“Mark (Cousins) kept us in the game on Tuesday night.

“It could have been a lot more than three. That’s Mark’s job, to stop the shots, and I thought he did very well.

“We were very disappointed because we came to Yeovil with high hopes. We couldn’t wait for the season to start.

“But we conceded a sloppy goal (to Richard Hinds) after three minutes.

“We picked ourselves up again, but conceding a second goal just before half-time killed us.”

Manager John Ward is set to make a few changes for the game at Preston, with Freddie Sears hopefully back in the squad after missing the Yeovil game because of family issues.