Let's stamp our ground on the play-off places

WE’LL be looking to make it back-to-back wins in League Two when we make the trip to play Swindon Town tomorrow night.

Our hosts are above us in the league on goal difference and it’s a chance for us to go there and get one over on them and stamp our ground on the play-off places.

Teams will wake up on Saturday morning and see that we’ve won the game and in the play-off places and things look a bit different.

It’s small gains really but we have an opportunity against a team that’s in and around us to get a result and we’ll go there to try and stamp our authority on the game and get a good away win.

My last experience of playing at Swindon was also on a Friday night and I seem to remember being very, very wet!

Hopefully it won’t be the same tomorrow night, although we did keep a clean sheet that night.

Another one of those wouldn’t go amiss!

Colchester haven’t lost at the County Ground on the last four occasions they’ve been there but I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to stats like that.

For me, it’s all very much down to what happens on the day and form going into the game.

I always enjoy playing against Swindon – it’s always a good pitch and they’re a team that likes to play football, as we do.

It should be conducive to a good game – hopefully minus the wind and the rain this time!

It would be good to go into the festive programme on the back of a good win.

It’s a bit similar to last year, when we gathered pace - a bit like the snow!

Bouncing back

WE had our two-week break and bounced back superbly against a good team in Exeter, last Saturday.

It was certainly a very strong home performance and one that we were all pleased with, after the game.

We put the game to bed in the first half, although 3-0 can be a bit of a dangerous scoreline.

I know it sounds ridiculous but when you’re that far ahead in the game before half-time, sometimes it is difficult in the second half because you know that they’re going to come at you and you have to defend for a period.

We lost Ryan Inniss and we had a bit of a shaky five or ten minutes but we defended very well.

The best is still to come from Sammie

SAMMIE Szmodics grabbed the headlines for his two goals and fantastic performance against Exeter City – and rightly so.

I certainly think there’s more to come from Sammie.

I noticed very early on that he’s a real talent and I think he’s coming into his own now.

He’s played a lot of games now and he’s scoring goals.

He’s had a terrible time of it with injuries which is unfortunate but when he’s fit and firing like he was last Saturday, he’s a really good player.

The world is his oyster.

We're blessed with our facilities

IT’S been a bit of a winter wonderland this week but we’re very fortunate at Colchester United – a lot of clubs at this level aren’t blessed with the facilities that we’ve got.

We’ve got a brilliant indoor facility and also the 4G pitches at Shrub End so unless it’s drastic weather circumstances, we’re very lucky in that we can get a training session.

I can imagine back in the day with frozen pitches and snow coming down that it was very testing.

A humbling experience

I’LL be going along to Colchester General Hospital next week to say hello to some of the children there, as part of our annual visit.

I’ve been a few times now and it always puts things firmly into perspective.

It’s a trip that’s very humbling and enjoyable at the same time – I don’t mean that in a perverse way but these families and children are in a very tough place going into a time of year where it’s all about harmony and love.

It’s kind of heartening to see that even though the children are going through a very tough time with illnesses and injuries and such like, they’re still able to enjoy themselves and if we can bring a smile to one kid’s face that will make a difference for us.

Fans were sweet on me

AFTER all of the alleged shenanigans at the Manchester derby last weekend, I can safely say that I’ve never been hit by a object after a game and I’ve certainly never had any milk thrown at me.

It always seems to happen at Old Trafford, doesn’t it - maybe it’s something about that tunnel.

I haven’t been struck by anything after a game but I have been hit by various things when I’ve been on the pitch, at various grounds.

The fans can be quite close to the pitch and being a goalkeeper, I’m usually relatively close to them.

I can remember that in the fifth or sixth game of my career, I was hit by sweets at Accrington and remember thinking ‘I don’t mind this, this is alright!’.

For the majority of the time, football is really well policed and fans shouldn’t do it – it’s not to be encouraged but I remember thinking ‘this is professional football’.

There’s always a bit of banter with the fans and I enjoy it.

Some players have thrown objects back into the crowd and that’s probably not to be advised, although I remember Dani Alves taking a bit out of a banana that had been thrown at him a few years ago.

The fact that it had been thrown towards him was obviously wrong on so many levels.

But rather than losing his head, he made a bit of a joke of it and the person who threw it must have felt a bit silly after that.

Taking responsibility

THE third Test Match of the Ashes series Down Under is now well underway and it’s an important one for England in many ways.

We need at least a draw in my opinion to stop the rot - a win for Australia and we probably go on and lose 5-0.

If that happens then there’s all sorts of questions being asked about everyone after the stuff that’s come out with Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and now Ben Duckett.

There are some serious questions being asked of this England team and rightly so, I think.

I’m all for players and sportsman going out and enjoying themselves – these guys are in Australia for two or three months and need to let their hair down at times.

But when there’s been incidents like those involving Stokes and Bairstow, surely you keep your head down a little bit and be sensible.

Also, they’re 2-0 down in the series which is so high profile so I was surprised to see that come out about Duckett.

As a professional sportsman, if you’re going out it’s a bit different to just going out and letting your hair down on a Friday night after work.

As a professional footballer, you have a responsibility as a role model and you’re representing your club.