Colchester United manager Danny Cowley says he believes "the supporters are right with us" despite their long winless run.

The U's have not won any of their last 12 matches in all competitions since a 1-0 victory over Rochdale on 29 August.

It is a run of form that has seen Colchester slip to 23rd in League Two ahead of Saturday's FA Cup first round meeting with Worcester City who play in the seventh-tier Southern Football League Premier Division Central

They lost 3-1 to Walsall last Saturday but Cowley told BBC Essex: "We conceded two late goals, but they are still singing our names, they're right behind us."

He said: "Once we got over the initial disappointment of losing, I felt really inspired by the way that they [the fans] stuck with them.

"Maybe it gave us all a lesson, if things haven't gone your way, it's easy to feed your misery... the supporters maybe made me look at myself and all week we've been really positive."

Cowley's side have not reached the second round of the FA Cup since 2021, and were knocked out by MK Dons in round one last season.

"For us the challenge is to still be in the hat come 17:00 on Saturday, still with 99 points to play for in the league," Cowley added.

"If we can achieve that, then it will be a pretty good weekend for us."