Manager John Sheridan hopes his players can kick on from a respectable two games' work and give their bid to secure a play-off spot another shot in the arm.

Games against fellow promotion challengers Millwall and Leeds yielded a haul of four points to ensure Athletic held on to fourth spot in League One.

Now Colchester travel north this weekend as one of those rare teams who have garnered more points away from home than on their own patch.

And while Sheridan is expecting a tough contest, his focus remains firmly on securing a crucial three points.

"We are pleased with a return of four points from two tough games and now we are looking to build on that," Sheridan said.

"Colchester are a decent side and I perhaps expected them to do better than they have so far this season.

"But they are definitely not out of it and they will feel that they could be in with a shout of the play-offs if they get on a very good run over the last 10 games.

"Paul Lambert has a good side on paper and we will have to be wary.

"But from our point of view we need to get wins on the board now and it doesn't matter how we do it.  We just need those points to make sure of a play-off position."

Sheridan set his side a target total of 75 points prior to the Millwall game and he insists that tally remains the benchmark.

He added: "We've got four points on the board since I set that target, which leaves us with 17 still to get and we will be working very hard to bag those as soon as possible.

"Every game is tough from now until the end of the season and the lads understand that.  There are some big fixtures coming up but Colchester takes priority and that's who we will be focusing on above all else until 5pm on Saturday.

"If we can put in the level of performance we showed at Millwall then we will be in with a very good chance of getting a result."