JACK Payne believes the FA Cup can be a positive distraction for Colchester United this weekend.

And the U’s playmaker feels a win at his old club Swindon Town can help give them the boost they need to help their League Two flagging form.

Colchester travel to play the Robins tomorrow, aiming to progress to the second round and secure their first win in eight matches, in all competitions.

Payne said: “It’s come at a good time.

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“We’ve not been good enough in the league especially in recent weeks, so sometimes it’s good to just come away and focus on something else.

“The FA Cup is a great competition and we can just focus on that, for this week.

“We can hopefully get a positive result and that can hopefully give us some confidence and positivity, going back into the league.

“It’s part and parcel of football – you’re going to go through times when you lose certain players and we’ve got more than enough quality out on the pitch to be doing better than we are.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

“We’re underachieving as players and there’s no excuses; it’s nothing to do with injuries or anything else.

“It’s about us coming together and getting results.”

Payne is one of four Colchester players returning to their former club Swindon, this weekend.

Mandela Egbo, Ellis Iandolo and Rob Hunt are also set to take on their old club, who have just appointed Ian Holloway as their new manager.

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“When the draw was made, there was excitement,” said Payne, who made nearly 100 appearances for Swindon between 2020 and 2022.

“I enjoyed my time there, so to go back and see some familiar faces will be nice.

“It’s a good draw and it’s usually a good atmosphere there.

“When I left, the club was in a fairly good place.

“We’d just got into the play-offs against Port Vale and everything was looking positive and I thought they might potentially go on and get promoted, in the next couple of years.

“With that team we had and the way the season went, I felt they were destined to get promoted but it didn’t happen.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

“They’ve obviously struggled to do that but it’s a difficult league to get out of and it’s not quite gone for them.

“When a new manager comes in, there’s usually some sort of bounce and they had that las week against Gillingham; they were 1-0 down for a lot of the game and they equalised, late on.

“So, there’s no doubt they’ll be up for it and it should increase the excitement but we’ve just got to use that to our benefit and enjoy the atmosphere and come out on top.”

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Payne has good memories of the FA Cup, including a double meeting with Premier League giants Manchester City for Huddersfield Town, in the 2016-17 season.

“We drew the first game 0-0 at home and then in the replay, we went a goal up so it was looking really positive,” said Payne.

“It didn’t stay that way for very long and we ended up losing 5-1 but they’re still good memories.

“It was really good to play against City – it feels like they’re playing a different sport, with the speed they do everything!”