Nathan Clarke is determined not to allow Colchester United's promotion dreams fade away.

The U's lost further ground in League One, following their 1-0 defeat at Hartlepool United.

Colchester now find themselves six points off the play-off places.

They now have a week to prepare for the visit of struggling Swindon Town next Saturday and defender Clarke believes it is a good time for Colchester to analyse their situation.

Clarke told the Gazette: “We don't have a midweek game this week and it's a good opportunity for us to take stock of things.

“We need to look at some DVDs of what we've been doing right and carry on doing those things.

“We have to concentrate on us rather than on other teams because from what I've seen, we're a fantastic team.

“We've got plenty of quality out on the pitch and on the bench waiting to come on.

“It's a tight league - no disrespect to Hartlepool though but we need to be kicking on.

“We had a chat as a group and we need to be stepping it up now and getting in that mix.

“We don't want to be drifting away – we need to be picking up points.”

For more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news, see Monday's Gazette.