Tony Humes is under no illusions about the challenge facing his side at Shrewsbury - despite the hosts’ stuttering form at New Meadow.

The Shrews have lost four of their six league and cup matches on home soil, although they have won two of their last three.

“They have 11 points and are a team who are capable of winning games,” said Colchester United boss Humes.

“The last couple of games haven’t gone well for them so they’ll be trying to steel themselves and they have to stop us playing.

“But they’ll look at ways to stop us playing and won’t sit back saying ‘come and beat us’.

“They can cause us problems and they are the home team, so they have to do something in front of their own fans.

“They haven’t had a terrific start but they haven’t had a bad start and it’s not as if they are points and points behind anyone else.

“We’re expecting a tough and physical game.

“They were a big strong team last year when they got promoted and even though they’ve had a few changes since then, we’ll be looking to push them back.”

Humes says his side will travel in upbeat mood, having won their last two away games at Sheffield United and Swindon.

“We’ll go there feeling confident,” he said.

“We know we can go away from home and get a result.

“If we start well and attack them and push them back we can get something out of the game.”

Meanwhile, Humes has praised the influence of experienced midfielder Darren Ambrose.

The former Ipswich Town man has dropped out of the team, since suffering a toe injury in late August.

“It’s been pretty harsh on Darren,” said the U’s boss.

“He started the season well but then suffered a little injury at Fleetwood.

“Callum (Harriott) has come in played really well and it’s a case of players being patient.

“Darren’s been great for us, though.

“You look at him in training and his quality shows massively.

“The players around him can learn from him and aspire to be like him.

“It’s great to have him around and if he needs to come off the bench, we know what we’re going to get from him.”

Visit the Daily Gazette website for live updates of Colchester's game at Shrewsbury.