'PRESSURE', 'nerves', 'anxiety'.Colchester United boss Aidy Boothroyd knows that, with the business end of the season fast approaching, League One pace setters Norwich and Leeds could get increasingly edgy.

Stuart Watson

'PRESSURE', 'nerves', 'anxiety'.

Colchester United boss Aidy Boothroyd knows that, with the business end of the season fast approaching, League One pace setters Norwich and Leeds could get increasingly edgy.

The U's moved back into third in the table on Tuesday night courtesy of a hard fought 1-0 win at Yeovil.

And with Leeds having won just once in their last seven league games, Colchester are now just three points off of the automatic promotion places.

“We've heard all season how good Norwich, Leeds and Charlton are,” said Boothroyd, whose side host Oldham today before welcoming Brentford to the Weston Homes Community Stadium on Tuesday night.

“But this is when we find out just how good they really are.

“There are few teams putting the pressure on now and I think both Leeds and Norwich know that.

“It's all well and good picking up points in February, but it's what happens in May and June which counts...

“Actually I want to be on my holidays in June, but you know what I mean!”

He added: “They (Norwich and Leeds) have got a different sort of pressure because they are both expected to go up.

“That therefore could make them a little bit nervous. Our crowd gets nervous and we are just Colchester, so imagine what it's like for them? The pressure is ten or twenty-fold.

“All we can do is focus on us. We can only maintain the pressure and maintain those nervous and anxious feelings amongst our competitors by winning.

“It's not just us either. Personally I think there are a couple of other teams in there that could give them a run for their money.

“I don't want to build anybody up, but there are a couple of teams in there that I think are very good.”

Norwich host a Southampton side today that haven't lost in the league since their 2-1 defeat to Colchester at the end of December.

Meanwhile, Leeds host a Brighton side that, despite being positioned in the relegation zone, have one of the best away records in the division.

Colchester: Williams, Cousins, White, Tierney, Okuonghae, Heath, Batth, Prutton, Wordsworth, O'Toole, Izzet, Ifil, Henderson, Fox, Platt, Odejayi, Gillespie, Lisbie.

Oldham: Brill, Flahavan, Gregan, Jacobson, Hazell, Goodwin, Timar, Brooke, Taylor, Price, Furman, Stephens, Marrow, Whitaker, Colbeck, Smalley, Abbott, Parker.