Steve Davis previews tonight's encounter against the U's.

Steve Davis took his Crewe Alexandra squad to Colchester yesterday to prepare properly for tonight’s League One encounter and the boss is hoping that our fine record in Essex can continue this evening. The Railwaymen have won on their last six visits to Colchester with their last defeat occurring way back in October 1992.

A third away win of the season would be most welcome, especially after Saturday’s heavy 5-1 home defeat by Peterborough United.

Ahead of tonight’s game, Steve told the club’s official web-site: “Colchester are similar to us. They have gone with their own young players and have tried to recruit young players as well.

“They were also beaten heavily at the weekend so they will be looking for a similar reaction to us after our performance against Peterborough.

“It will be another challenge for us but one we are all looking forward to. They are a club that are not that many points or places above us.

“We have gone down a day in advance to prepare properly because it can be a long trip, especially for a mid-week fixture but we have had to get on with it.

“I’m told our record down there is very good and there always seems to be an extra importance on the game. It has certainly been that over the last couple of seasons when people were saying we needed something from the game. We have managed to win and we done that by putting in a really brave performance. We are looking for a repeat performance.

He added: “Up to the weekend, we have been defending reasonably well and no-one had put a lot of goals past us, so I am hoping that was a mere blip when it came to our defending and a clean-sheet would form the basis for a good result and hopefully then a good performance.”