Asked whether the U’s could produce another relegation escape act, to replicate their achievements of the three previous years, defender Frankie Kent replied that the team had to stay “positive.”

It is looking increasingly grim for the Essex club, at the foot of the League One table, a fact not lost on Kent, but the 20-year-old centre-half took heart from Saturday’s goalless home draw against Shrewsbury.

“It was a good overall performance from the team, and it was very pleasing to get a clean-sheet,” said Kent.

“We showed today that we are a very good team, especially in the first half where we dominated, and in the second half we stuck in there and showed some good moments.

“I think we must just kick on and take some positives from the game.

“We didn’t get beaten, and it’s all stepping stones for us. It’s a good foundation to go into Tuesday (away at Bradford) and Saturday (away at Port Vale). They are both hard games.

“We just need to keep building on this. It was just that the little things didn’t click for us to get the chances we needed.

“I feel as though we’ve got to be positive (as regards the possibility of avoiding relegation), that’s the main thing.

“We’ve got enough games to do it.

“I feel as though we can kick on from here, and anything can happen. We can do anything in this team, as we showed earlier on in the season,” added Kent, with reference to a four-game winning run during the second half of September.

The U’s face a tough away test at Bradford City tomorrow