COLCHESTER United defender Ryan Jackson says he and his team-mates are brimming with confidence ahead of today’s FA Cup assignment at Accrington Stanley.

The U’s are heading north for a first-round contest at the Crown Ground.

Stanley will start as favourites, with home advantage and sitting seventh – only outside the play-off zone on goal difference - in League One.

However, full-back Jackson is in upbeat mood and believes his team are more than capable of booking their place in Monday’s draw.

“We’re confident and in good form at the moment,” he said.

“Hopefully we can go up there and put in a performance.

“We approach every game in the same manner, having worked hard in training and ready to make it count on the pitch.

“Football is all about confidence and everyone in our dressing room feels that way.

“We’ve got a talented, tight-knit squad and in terms of the personnel brought in, quite a lot of the boys knew each other from before.

“Everyone has gelled and everyone has chipped in and played their part so far.

“We’re scoring goals and free-flowing in attack but also defending well and the whole team deserve credit for that.

“As long as the team wins and keeps clean sheets, I’m happy. That’s my main job.

“And as long as we keep clean sheets, we’ve always got a chance of winning games, especially with the forwards we’ve got.”

Jackson is not surprised to see Accrington doing so well, having been promoted from League Two in May.

He sees parallels between their squad and the U’s – both being ambitious and “tight-knit”.

“I’m not surprised to see them doing well,” said the 28-year-old from AFC Wimbledon, Macclesfield Town, Newport County and Gillingham man.

“They’re a good team and they’ve got good players.

“They’re a tight-knit squad like us.

“But we’ve got our own ambitions of what we want to achieve as a team.

“We’ve been very consistent so far and we deserve a good cup run, especially after what happened last season (losing 1-0 against Oxford City).

“It can lift the team and squad if you get decent draws and do well in the cup.”

The U’s have covered plenty of miles in recent weeks, with trips to Morecambe and Grimsby Town.

They make the much shorter trip to Cambridge United in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday night.

“Our away form has been good,” said Jackson, who recalls a big FA Cup tie against then-Premier League Wigan Athletic during his Macclesfield days.

“No-one likes travelling far away but it’s got to be done and we’ve got a job to do.

“We just have to keep winning our games and see where we end up.”