Steve Ball believes Colchester United have the armoury to match any side in League Two this season.
And the U’s assistant manager is confident that they can wreck Carlisle United’s unbeaten record and claim victory at Brunton Park.
John McGreal’s side make the 315-mile trip up to Cumbria lying just two points off second spot, in a congested top half of the table.
Ball believes they are capable of making a sustained challenge near the top of the table, as the campaign unfolds.
Ball said: “The league has got various teams that play various ways and I’d never knock any style.
“But I think a key thing for us this season is that we can play more than one way.
“John (McGreal) and I have tried to encourage the players to play both ways.
“There will be times when we can play our possession football, but there will be others when we have to fight, like the other day when we ground out a result at Barnet.
“We know going into the game that we might have to do a bit of both but we’re more than confident that we can do that.
“I was told when I came into the job that it’s a very tight league and every game has been like that so far.
“We need to take on board what we’ve learned so far but I also feel that the longer the season goes on, we can put ourselves in a good position in the table.
“We know games will be tight but a couple of wins would put us up in the top three.
“We’ve watched them (Carlisle) two or three times and they’re an excellent team.
“They’re a dynamic side and can play both ways, with some really talented, technical players and they’re also physical as well.
“We know what we’re up against but, as a group, we feel we can certainly match any side - we’re more than confident and we’ll go there to win.”
A late Chris Porter equaliser salvaged Colchester a point at Crawley Town on Tuesday night and U’s number two Ball says the last-gasp goal gave them a big boost.
“After scoring a late goal like that, the mentality of the whole group is so positive,” added Ball, who took over as Colchester’s assistant manager at the end of last season.
“As a group, the mentality going into a big game like tomorrow is so much better after this result.”