Colchester United manager Tony Humes says he and his players have a belief that they will still be a League One club next season.

The U's are preparing for their huge home game against Swindon Town knowing that a win tomorrow night will lift them out of the bottom four, ahead of their final match of the season against Preston North End this weekend.

Colchester have taken four points from a possible six in their last two games, following their win over Fleetwood Town last Saturday.

And boss Humes has been impressed by his players' battling spirit in those matches, where four of the five goals they have scored have come in the final ten minutes.

Humes said: “We have a belief that we can get out of it and if we win our two games, we will get out of it.

“The players are sticking together which they’ve done all season.

“These are really pressurised situations and if you haven’t been through it before, how do you deal with it?

“You haven’t got anything to fall back on to cope with it but our players have been through it and they’ll be better off for it, in the long run.

“I’ve never been through anything like this before, even as a player.

“It’s difficult and it’s tough but we have to keep going.

“The experiences they’re going through will stand them in good stead in the long run and hopefully too, in the short term.

“They’ll have learnt a lot from the last few weeks where it’s been tough and difficult and everybody has stuck together."

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