IT feels like it’s a case of all or nothing for Colchester United at the moment.

After a manic October which saw the U’s play seven games in the space of just 24 days, they have this month experienced a fragmented period where matches in different competitions have been interspersed with fixture breaks.

In contrast to last month’s manic period, John McGreal’s side will play only four times in November – and only twice in the league.

Having played out a 1-1 draw at Cheltenham Town in their first league fixture in three weeks, the U’s will now not have another competitive game until tomorrow week, when they will face Stevenage in the Leasing.com Trophy.

And they will have to wait until December 7 until they play their next League Two match, against Salford.

It's all a little stop-start and is a pretty unusual scenario for Colchester, who have been used to the games coming thick and fast over recent years due to the relentless nature of EFL football.

On the plus side, it has allowed players to recharge their batteries after a manic first four months of the season.

But has it disrupted the considerable momentum they had gained after the three straight wins they had recorded at the end of last month and the beginning of this?

Possibly, if their rather below-par second-half display at Cheltenham was anything to go by, albeit against a good side with an excellent home record.

“Has the couple of weeks without a game helped us or hindered us? I certainly think it might have hindered us a little bit today because we weren’t on full tilt,” said U’s boss McGreal after the draw with the Robins.

“But we’ve put in a really dogged performance in a tough game and now we can build on this into our next game.”

With no game this weekend, Colchester will spend this week preparing for their game against Stevenage, where they will be hoping to make further progress in the EFL Trophy.

Indeed, it is a busy December in store for the U's.

In contrast to this month’s relative inactivity, they are set to play seven games in three different competitions, next month.

That sequence will, of course, include Colchester’s much-anticipated Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at Manchester United, on December 18.

One considerable positive heading into the busy period is that the U’s currently have what is generally considered to be their largest squad for some time.

It has plenty of depth to it in all departments, so much so that Jevani Brown and Brendan Wiredu travelled with the U’s squad to Cheltenham but did not even make it onto the substitutes bench at Whaddon Road.

That will certainly come in useful for Colchester in the coming weeks and months, when the games will come thick and fast once again.