Former Colchester United favourite Aidan Davison has backed the club to recover from their slump and make the play-offs.

And he believes hard work on the training ground is key to them getting back to winning ways, after a run of eight games without a victory.

Davison was part of the last Colchester side to win promotion, in 2006.

The ex-U’s shot-stopper played a big part in helping Phil Parkinson’s side to glory.

However, much like the present-day Colchester team, Parkinson’s team suffered a loss of form near the end of the season.

They went eight games without a win between February and April, before getting back on track against Swindon Town - the U’s opponents on Saturday.

Davison told the Gazette: “We couldn’t do anything right at that time but looking back, hard work helped to get us through.

“There was no secret formula.

“We worked doubly hard on the training ground and a lot of it was down to repetition.

“There was no lack of confidence or anything like that - if anything, it was the other way around.

“We realised at the time that we were so close to what we wanted to achieve.

“We had the likes of Wayne Brown, Kevin Watson and Jamie Cureton and they formed the backbone of the team.

“We knew that we were good enough and it was a case of us doing our jobs."

For more on this story, see today's Gazette.