COLCHESTER United John McGreal is adamant his side can trouble League Two pacesetters Plymouth Argyle.

The Pilgrims are four points clear at the top of the table and unbeaten in the league since August.

In contrast, the out-of-sorts U’s are without a win in seven matches, since their home victory against Blackpool in early September.

However, McGreal sees no reason why his side cannot bounce back tomorrow and inflict a rare defeat on Derek Adams’ title-chasers.

“Plymouth have done exceptionally well,” said the club’s head coach.

“We’ve had them watched and they’re going to be a really tough team.

“They’re going to be buoyant and so are their fans.

“I know they’re top of the table but we’re going there to win and we’ve got to go there with confidence.

“We had the same situation the other week, at Doncaster.

“We went there and were the better team, nearly catching them cold but without being able to get the win.

“Over the last seven games we’ve been so close.

“I’m learning as I go as a manager, but as a player I went through dips like this before.

“You’ve just got to keep believing, stay positive and keep doing the things we’ve done right.

“We’ve got to keep creating chances and try and tighten up at the back.”

McGreal admits this season has been a “rollercoaster” of emotions, with his side making a strong start before petering off in recent weeks.

However, he believes there is little between the sides at the top and bottom of League Two.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions in our 14 games,” he said.

“But I’ve been buoyed by what I’ve seen in the division so far.

“The teams at the top are strong, like Plymouth, Carlisle and Doncaster.

“But the teams at the bottom are of a really good standard, too, with good philosophies, as you see every week.

“On their day, teams can cause problems for the top sides.”

McGreal says training has been good this week - and that the banter was “flying around” as he rolled back the years and took part in a five-a-side match in yesterday’s session.

“Training has been really good,” he said.

“I got involved myself and my team came out on top.

“The banter was flying around. It got the boys buzzing and laughing.

“Hopefully I haven’t kicked anyone and there’s no bags of ice on shins!

“You do anything you can to help and the little five-a-side we had was a bit of fun, after all tactical work.”