JOHN McGreal insists continuing their impressive recent form will be the main motivation for his Colchester United players this afternoon - and not getting revenge on Stevenage.

The U's were beaten home and away by Boro last season but the two clubs are currently experiencing contrasting fortunes in League Two, ahead of today's clash at the JobServe Community Stadium.

While Colchester have lost only one of their last 11 games in all competitions, Stevenage are rooted to the bottom of the table having failed to win any of their opening 11 league games.

The U's can move into the play-off positions with a win today but head coach McGreal insists they will not be underestimating their opponents.

McGreal said: “We know it’s going to be tough and they did the double over us, last year.

“But it’s not about revenge – we’ve just got to try and continue what we’re doing.

“From what we’ve seen of Stevenage, they’ve gone out to take games and they were unfortunate not to win at Forest Green.

“They also started off particularly well against Cambridge but then conceded a late equaliser to draw, so we know it’s going to be a tough game.

“We’ve been there ourselves where we’ve found it hard to get that win but with the experience that they have in the team I’m sure once they get it, they’ll go on a little bit of a run.

“We’re hoping that won’t be the case against us on Saturday.

“We need to win games and so do they, so we need to see what they come with really but it’s all about us and we won’t change our thoughts.

“We found ourselves there a couple of years ago and so have sides like Exeter but when you put a few winning results together, you can move straight up the table.

“They have a wealth of experience and a wealth of team selection for Mark (Sampson), who’s taken over from Dino (Maamria).

“He knows what he’s got because he’s been there throughout the season.

“He’s got a little bit of a different way at times but he’s also changed personnel, I think because of the size of his squad.

“They have experience like (Craig) Mackail-Smith, (Adam) El-Abd and Michael Timlin going back in, just to mention a few really through the spine of their team.

“They also have our old foe Kurtis (Guthrie), who’s still performing to a good level."

Colchester are today likely to come up against their former striker Kurtis Guthrie, who made 49 league and cup appearances for the U's between 2016 and 2018.

The 26-year-old scored against the U's for Stevenage last season and boss McGreal admits they will have to contain the striker.

“Kurtis has been long gone (from Colchester) and he’s forging a good career for himself at Stevenage and playing to a particular level," said McGreal.

“He’s going to be one we have to keep an eye on because we weren’t able to do that last year – we have to try and improve on last season.

“There'll be banter - that's football and it’s going to happen but you just hope that with the banter flying about, the language isn’t too blue."