COLCHESTER United match winner Frank Nouble is confident their 1-0 win over Grimsby Town has given them a chance of making the League Two play-offs.

The U’s closed the gap between themselves and the top seven to two points following victory over the Mariners, their first home win in four attempts.

Colchester will now head to Yeovil Town on Easter Monday with renewed confidence, after responding to back-to-back defeats with a win.

And Nouble says the players will be backing both themselves and boss John McGreal in their remaining three matches of the campaign.

Nouble said: “There’s three games to go now and we’ve put ourselves in a good position to keep at it.

“It gives us a chance – we didn’t want to go to Yeovil knowing that we’d lost against Grimsby.

“Let’s end the season on a high, win as many games as we can and see where that takes us.

“Having to win every game is important but we’re a good side and we just have to keep proving it week in, week out.

“We have to back the manager as well and show him that we do care – we want to make sure he’s here for a long time.

“We also have to back ourselves – there are players who played (against Grimsby) who haven’t got a contract next year and they’re fighting for everything and fighting for the cause and that’s really positive.

“The previous results hadn’t been good enough, so we’re just happy to get a win.

“We’re a young group, so we take every games as it comes really.

“We know what’s been going on hasn’t been good for our own sake.

“We started the season really well but we’ve tailed off a bit.

“We’ve been down mentally and obviously everyone can understand that.

“We know the frustrations from everyone but we’ve got that as well and we have to perform – we have to keep going and see what happens.”

Nouble bagged his ninth goal of the season after scoring Colchester’s winner against Grimsby.

The 27-year-old netted from Sammie Szmodics’ assist to become the U’s first attacking player to score in seven matches.

“It was a brilliant pass and I had time to compose myself, make sure I kept the ball low and hit the target,” said former West Ham youngster Nouble.

“We started off really brightly and put ourselves in a good position, after getting that early goal which really helped us.

“I’m a player who doesn’t really get loads of chances – I create more.

“So when I do get a chance, I just need to just be composed.

“I think I’ve played well when I’ve been up front and it’s up to the manager.

“He knows I’m ready to play wherever for the team.

“Personally, I do like to play up front and I feel I can play there and play well so hopefully, I can keep going.”

Colchester head to struggling Yeovil on Monday, aiming to make it back-to-back wins for the first time in more than two months.

Nouble added: “It’ll be a tough game but we’re fighting for something as well.

“They are better games when both teams are fighting for something.

“They’re at home and they’ll be thinking that it’s a game they need to win.

“There’s massive pressure on them but we just have to focus on ourselves.

“I think every game is like a cup final for us now and we’ll go there looking to get a result.”