Relegation Battle? No Kidding!

Geraint Williams admitted yesterday that tonight`s game against Preston could be a "springboard" for future success at Colchester United this season.

The Welsh supremo thinks his side are capable of turning the Championship results corner in the same fashion as tonight`s opponents have done in their own battle at the bottom of the table.

Colchester currently lie five points adrift at the foot of the league. Williams said of tonight`s game: "It's three points for every win, but what it does it gives you an opportunity to make sure somebody around you loses while you win, so it does give you that little bit of a springboard.

Speaking to both myfootballwriter and the Colchester Gazette, the manager was pretty fair in his appraisal of the situation, and asserted his squad`s belief that they have a mentality strong enough to remain in the division they first entered in 2005/6.

Williams continued: "But at the moment we're treating every game as vital to us because everyone at this club is fighting tooth and nail to stay in this Championship; that's where we want to be. We know that and we're not kidding ourselves, we're in a battle and at the moment everyone is rolling their sleeves up in that battle and it will go on Tuesday night.

'Preston are going very well and that's exactly what we'd like to do, put some wins together, and you can see they've climbed out of the bottom three because of their good run of form. It's something that we'll look to emulate.'

"It is an important game we all know that," he added.