ORIENT boss Russell Slade has urged his players not to let last weekend's win at Preston go to waste when they take on Colchester United at Brisbane Road on Saturday.

The O's moved into the top half of the table with that win at Deepdale and Slade wants his players to keep on pushing upwards.

He believes a crucial part of that will be improving the record in E10, starting with Saturday's visit of the U's.

"The players have gone out and worked really hard this week again, with a real spring in their step," he said.

"I'm pleased with what they've done and the work they've got through. It was a really good away performance at Preston last week.

"But we've got to move on now and we've got to back that up. After a little bit of a stutter with the Carlisle and Chesterfield results, we're back at home again and it's our home form that we need to continue to improve.

"I just think that away from home now teams set themselves up to be very difficult to beat and there are a lot of teams with decent away records.

"So from that point of view we've got to work exceptionally hard to ensure we dig results out at home, because if your home form is good you can really push on and be successful."

Colchester were defeated by rock-bottom club Chesterfield last weekend, but Slade is wary of a backlash and has warned his players they will need to be at their best.

He added: "I know John Ward [Colchester manager] and he gets his boys to bounce back. I remember earlier in the season they got beaten heavily by Stevenage and then bounced back with a 2-0 win.

"So I know what they're capable of and they've been mid-table to top half most of the season.

"It'll be a tough game, I think it'll be a very even game. Both teams want to play a little bit of football so it'll be interesting."

This interview appeared first as a TV feature on Orient Player. Click here to subscribe or for more info on our premium web service - available from less than 10p per day!