Earlier in the season the U's achieved a notable (and deserved) victory over Nigel Adkins' Blades at Bramall Lane.

Saturday sees the reverse fixture at the WHCS with a rejuvenated U's under the expert management of KK who has transformed the team since his arrival at Christmas time.

So what has changed - in September the U's lined up thus;

Jones, Vincent-Young, Eastman, Elokobi, Briggs, Edwards, Garvan, Moncur, Harriott, Sordell and Massey.

They survived Sharp's shenanigans, Jones saved a penalty and Moncur and Sordell were brilliant, Big George took one for the team and they won 3-2 in front of 17,000.

I expect that KK will keep an unchanged team for the Blades' visit:

Kean

Brindley Eastman Wynter Briggs

Gilbey Garvan Moncur Massey

Sordell Porter

Subs:

Kent Ambrose Bonne Vincent-Young Edwards Parish Wright

But what has KK brought to the party. He has galvanised the team, created team spirit, improved training and brought the desire to win back to the side. The players want to play and obtain the results to haul themselves back up the table. More importantly he has stemmed the tide of awful defensive lapses. In short the players have grit and determination to succeed.

Football is not only a results business but also it is about confidence and the U's have it in spades (not blades) at present.

Adkins' men left Old Trafford with a sense of injustice (but I was delighted that Hammond conceded the penalty after his wild celebrations when scoring for Southampton against the U's some seasons ago).

They then proved their resilience to come back with three goals in 21 minutes against the Latics in midweek.

Make no mistake they will be wanting to secure the points on Saturday but so do the U's and I think they will with another dominant performance in front of the faithful at a fast becoming fortress WHCS.

It will be a tough encounter and the U's will need to come out of the blocks quickly but our true league position will only be achieved with wins against the so called fashionable clubs in the Division.

A decent crowd awaits and the U's cannot be distracted by the mouth watering televised match against Spurs (who I expect to prevail against the Foxes). KK will not allow this, he is quickly stamping his authority and considerable ability on fashioning a side that will be difficult to beat in the latter part of the season as we definitely achieve the 51 points required for survival.

Saturday is about character and commitment, determination and the will to win.

Enjoy the game and Up the U's

Photo: Action Images

Colchester United Polls