FLEETWOOD away, for a 12.30pm kick-off; while not the furthest distance we travel this season, it did seem like a day that would never end.

It shows the love-hate relationship that us fans have with the game.

While wondering just what we were doing at 4am, getting in the car at such an unsociable hour, we also knew that it would all be worth it in the end for the day out following the U’s, no matter what the outcome.

As luck would have it, our journey was not actually that bad overall and the only issues occurred on the A120 close to home, both on the way up and on the return, many hours later.

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The game was, of course, our second 12.30pm away trip in as many weeks, due to the new contract the EFL has with Sky Sports.

Over the years, there’s been a grumble that the lower leagues have not been as represented on TV as the top-flight divisions and as a result, were not getting a fair slice of the money that comes with it.

This is all well and good but with these sorts of deals, there is extraordinarily little thought given towards the fans.

The 3pm media black-out that prevents Saturday games being shown live in the UK does narrow down the options but it still needs to be looked at.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

We all know that money talks in football and sadly as fans, we will have to get used to changes in fixtures and games being at earlier times.

To the game itself and we made Fleetwood, a good side who no doubt will be in and around the play-offs places if not higher this season, look second best for big parts of the game.

We played our brand of football and seemed more composed on the ball than we had in recent games.

While there is no doubting that things have become more solid over the last few games, we are still lacking that critical edge.

READ MORE: Five observations from Colchester's 0-0 draw with Fleetwood

On the balance of things, a point was fair but I can’t help but feel that given some of the chances we missed, maybe it was more a case of two points dropped than one gained.

That’s the beauty of hindsight and it still leaves us with four points from six, from our early morning travels.

We now need to make sure all this hard work and improvement is cemented on Tuesday night when we host Swindon Town.

With the visitors also struggling this season, it is a good chance for us to gain a bit of breathing space and start to pull away from the relegation places.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

It will not be an easy game and one that is probably more challenging than the last two away days.

This is because we are at home and also, there is an expectation to get a win which was not there as much against Grimsby and Fleetwood.

The majority of us went to Fleetwood with the mindset that a draw would be a decent result, with anything else a bonus.

If come 10pm on Tuesday night we can look back on seven points from nine, then I think on paper it will have been a very good period and would set us up nicely for the frantic festive fixtures to come.

READ MORE: Charlie Adam's assessment of Colchester's draw at Fleetwood

All well and good so far, but as normal with Colchester United it seems that for all positive forward momentum, there is always something that appears to put a dent in it all.

Our injury list seems to grow in proportion to how well we are doing.

Let’s hope Ben Goodliffe and Harry Anderson’s injuries are not as bad as feared and that their withdrawal at Fleetwood was more down to prevention and playing it safe, rather than a long-term issue.

We have made progress and with a fully-fit squad, I think that this festive period could and should be the time for our fortunes to change.

Hopefully we see a good crowd there to play our part, on Tuesday. Up the U’s.