WITH most of his goals so far coming on the road so far, Luke Norris is perhaps one member of Colchester United's squad who won't be too put off by the long journeys they have ahead of them this week.

Norris, together with his U's team-mates, will head to Morecambe tomorrow, before a lengthy trip to Grimsby Town on Tuesday when they will be looking to continue the form that they showed in beating Crawley Town on home turf last weekend.

The 25-year-old former Swindon Town and Gillingham striker was one of those on target against Crawley as Colchester secured a rousing 3-1 win to return to the top seven in the League Two table.

It was a goal that took Norris' tally to eight for the season, but it was in the minority as most of his strikes so far this season have come on the road.

Five of his eight goals have been scored away from the Jobserve Community Stadium, but while he admits that's unusual, Norris knows the way that Colchester play on the road means he could see further chances at Morecambe and Grimsby this week.

“It’s probably harder to score away from home," he said.

“For most of my goals to come away from home, it’s almost quite strange.

“I think this team creates chances both home and away.

“My best attribute I feel is shooting and being able to snap up things from any distance and create a lot of power with it.

“The manager knows what that strength is and I know myself, so any sort of half yard in and around the box is all I think of.

“I think I had the same amount of goals at the same stage with Swindon, last season.

“It was six or seven at the end of September and I really wanted to kick on but I had niggly injuries throughout that season, so hopefully I can stay fit and get back on it.

“I take it in batches of five, so reach five, ten and 15 and go from there.

“You can start the league season looking for 30 goals this year and everyone wants to do that but if you can get to five and then ten, go from there."

Following a slow start to the season, after joining Colchester from Swindon over the summer, Norris' form has cemented his place in head coach John McGreal's side.

However, he admits competition for places is keeping everyone in the U's forward unit on their toes.

He added: “The first couple of games (of the season) were frustrating because I thought I was fit to play and I wasn’t chosen.

“But when I was given the chance, it was taken and it’s gone really well.

“I’m looked at because I’m in that central role and if I’m not scoring goals or contributing to us scoring goals, then really I’m not doing my job.

“We’ve got some really good players here.

“Mika (Mandron) is chomping at the bit and we see that in training – he’s a very good forward.

“We’ve got Noubs (FRank Nouble) who’s been pushed out wide where he can also come centrally as well.

“We’ve got a lot of good competition, which is good."

Colchester's win against Crawley was significant in that it took the U's back into the League Two play-off places and Norris knows that is the very least of where they should be setting their targets.

He said: “You always see it in this league – come Christmas time, you might see a team who are 18th or 19th who’ll all of a sudden go on a ridiculous run and get into the play-offs.

“It happens every year but we’re not looking to do that.

“We want to be in that top seven every single week and we want to get a few results together.

“We need back-to-back wins and it’s something that we need to do.

“With the games coming up, I think we have a good chance of doing that."