Colchester United keeper, Sam Walker, recognises that the U’s are in serious ‘trouble,’ going into their final five games of the season.

And the former Chelsea trainee admits that the next three games, in particular, all against fierce relegation rivals, will be make-or-break for the Essex club.

The U’s travel to basement dwellers Stevenage tomorrow, before entertaining Oldham on Good Friday and then facing bottom four club Crewe at Gresty Road on Easter Monday.

After that trio of key fixtures, the U’s could be sitting comfortably outside the relegation battle, but they could just so easily be rock bottom of the division!

“It’s a mental thing now. We have just had a very tough last month,” explained Walker.

“We have all got to be on it now. Those that weren’t involved last season need to take notes off the guys who were involved last season.

“We need to all pull together as a squad, and as a club, including all the fans, the staff, everyone.

“I think it helps that we are playing teams in and around us, and the next three games are real six pointers.

“We can nail some teams’ coffins, if you like, but equally they can do that to us.

“They are massive, massive pressure games coming up, ones that we have really got to get ourselves properly prepared for, and go in with all guns blazing.

“We are in survival mode now.

“It shouldn’t be that way, but that’s the way it is. We’ve been in that situation before – we got out of it last year, and I’m confident we can do the same thing this year.

“We need to pull off a rescue act,” added Walker.

Recruited on a permanent contract from Chelsea last summer, after a successful loan spell during the second half of last term, Walker has been ever-present between the sticks this season.

The 22-year-old has played all 44 league and cup games, and can draw on the experience of last year’s titanic struggle to escape relegation, which the U’s managed to overcome on the final day with Walker keeping a clean-sheet in a 2-0 win at Carlisle.

“We have been sucked into it a little more this year, whereas last year we were in it for a long time. I think that does make it a little bit more difficult this time,” admitted Walker.

“We hadn’t been anticipating it. All season, the general word around us has been been that we are ‘too good to go down.’

“And I firmly believe we are too good to go down. We have way too much in this squad to be in the position we are in.

“Once we have survived it, and got ourselves out of this, then it will be a case of holding an inquest into why we got ourselves into this situation.

“We are far too good to be in this situation but, having said that, we are! We can’t think about that now.

“It’s all about survival instincts.

“We’ve still got 15 points to play for, and we have to pick up as many as we can to stay in this league.”

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