Mike Williamson says Carlisle United must match the “physicality” of Danny Cowley’s Colchester United in order to prevail this weekend.

The Blues head to Essex for the head coach’s fourth game in charge as Carlisle aim to respond to consecutive home defeats.

It will be a third time already this season that Williamson has faced Colchester, having made two trips to the JobServe Community Stadium with his previous club MK Dons.

Those games – a 2-0 defeat in League Two and a 2-1 reverse in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy – gave Williamson a clear insight into what to expect with United on Saturday.

“We know what we're going to get there,” said the Blues head coach.

“They [Colchester] are disciplined and they've got good detail, obviously.

“The Cowley brothers [Danny and assistant Nicky] have a lot of energy, they've got a lot of experience, and they will have a plan, and we've seen that already.

“They've got some very experienced players, some really hard-working players. They've got a big physical presence up top, and a really honest, hard-working group of lads who are organised, so that's going to be hard, we're going to have to match that.

Former Lincoln City and Portsmouth duo Danny and Nicky Cowley are in charge at ColchesterFormer Lincoln City and Portsmouth duo Danny and Nicky Cowley are in charge at Colchester (Image: PA)

“But, pulling on what we saw [in the second half against Notts County on Tuesday], we've got more than enough in that respect, so we've just got to make sure we dust ourselves off and get ourselves as prepared as we can.”

Third-bottom United will tomorrow face a Colchester side sitting 15th after two wins, four draws and three defeats in League Two so far.

The U’s earned a late point at Port Vale on Tuesday night when a last-minute Samson Tovide goal forced a 1-1 draw.

At home they have won two, drawn one and lost one in the league, and they sit four points above the struggling Cumbrians. Their squad includes the ex-Blues loan striker John-Kymani Gordon.

Williamson believes the way United performed in Tuesday’s second half at Brunton Park must be their bottom line in Essex.

“It’s that mentality that we saw. That output of energy, with that resilience and steel, just keeping in every attack, picking the ball up and going again, and making it so organised that they won't have a second to get out of their half, and we're locking on to things, we're not giving them a second.

“Obviously, we've got to match their physicality, and we've got to win the battle and earn that right, but the boys showed [on Tuesday] that they can do it against one of the best teams in the league.”

This weekend will be Carlisle’s first visit to Colchester since August 2022 when a Kristian Dennis header earned the Blues a 1-1 draw.

United have one win from their last 14 visits to Colchester, that coming in October 2017 when Jamie Devitt’s goal earned a 1-0 victory.

Before that, Carlisle's previous win was at the U's former Layer Road home in April 1995 when David Reeves' goal clinched a 1-0 win that sealed the Division Three title for Mick Wadsworth's Blues.