COLCHESTER and East Essex Cricket Club skipper Jake Foley believes his side are getting stronger as the season goes on as they bid to keep the pressure on the Shepherd Neame Essex League division one leaders.

The Castle Park side’s first XI are looking for a fifth straight win tomorrow when they play host to Upminster.

Colchester will head into the match in confident mood following their excellent 24-run win over leaders Hutton, last weekend.

They now sit 32 points behind them in the table with five games remaining and are 13 points clear of third-placed Buckhurst Hill.

Foley said: “I think as a team we’re getting stronger all the time and there are really positive signs for the future.

“This weekend, we’ll have our strongest XI available and that makes a real difference.

“There’s a great spirit about the side at the moment and a real camaraderie.”

Colchester will be looking to capitalise on any slip-ups by those teams around them this weekend, with promotion rivals Hutton and Buckhurst Hill facing each other.

Foley is still targeting the title but knows that winning promotion back to the premier division is their main priority, this season.

“It’s a funny one,” said Foley, who has also been playing for Suffolk this season.

“Half of me wants Hutton to win so that we have the chance to go further ahead of Buckhurst Hill but the other half wouldn’t mind Hutton losing, as we still want to finish as champions.

“We can’t think about what’s going on elsewhere – we have to be focused on ourselves and the rest will look after itself.

“We’ll just go out there and look to beat Upminster.

“We have five games to go and we know that if we win all five of them, we’ll be promoted.”

Colchester are set to welcome back experienced opener Julian Russell, this weekend.

It will mean Foley potentially has a tough choice to make, with the side performing so well last weekend against Hutton.

Colchester’s second XI, who are bottom of the table, are also in action tomorrow.

They travel to play Shenfield, in the Second XI Premier Division.