Matty Etherington has impressed as Colchester interim boss

And U’s interim boss Matty Etherington admits he would love to land the role on a permanent basis, if it is offered to him.

Etherington has impressed in temporary charge of Colchester after stepping up from his role as their under-21 lead coach, following Ben Garner’s departure last month.

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The U’s can secure four successive league wins for the first time since the 2016-17 season if they beat Sutton tomorrow.

Etherington said: “I think after the weekend, there’ll be some clarity around it but what way, I don’t know.

“The conversation at the start was 'let's get to Sutton and go from there' and if I have to go back to the 21s and do that, I’ll happily do it; if they offer me the chance to take the role on, of course I’d do it – I’d love to do it.

“At the minute, I’m just concentrating on the Sutton game and I think and I think there’ll probably be some talks between us one way or the other after Saturday.

“I’m enjoying it.

“I’ve got to be honest, in terms of the output we’re giving them as staff, the players are the ones who are getting the results.

“They’re the ones going out there giving the effort and making those decisions at times, which I like to give them the freedom to do.

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“That second-half reaction was so pleasing to see (against Swindon) because the half-time team talk from the players, from myself, was a difficult one.

“It wasn’t easy but there was a definite response there, so I’m pleased about that.”

Colchester can move as high as 11th in the League Two table with a win over Sutton, if results elsewhere go in their favour.

The U’s produced a fine recovery to beat Swindon Town 3-1 on Tuesday night after a flat opening 45 minutes and Etherington wants them to maintain the levels they showed in the second half.

“A similar performance to the one that we produced in the second half against Swindon will go a long way to doing that,” said Etherington.

“That will be the message to the players – that if we get those levels that we showed in the second half, we’re a match for anyone in this league.

“It was outstanding, watching it back.

“We were a further ten yards up the pitch, we were more aggressive, our counter press was really, really good.

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“We stifled Swindon who couldn’t deal with it and we ran out worthy winners, in the end.

“It’s about maintaining that really and not so much of the first-half performance.

“It’s very difficult at any level to maintain that kind of second-half performance that we showed.

“The more you can try to get performances of that ilk for longer periods of the game, then the more successful you’ll be.”