Cambridge United head coach Mark Bonner says he saw an angry team when he watched the Blues beat Morecambe 4-0 at Portman Road in their last League One match 10 days ago.
Town hammered the Shrimps following a tough spell in which they’d won only one in six in the league and slipped from the top of the division to third, seven points behind leaders Plymouth and four off second-placed Sheffield Wednesday ahead of tomorrow’s game against the second-bottom U's at the Abbey Stadium.
"We know the size of the challenge,” Bonner said in his pre-match press conference, his side having lost 3-0 at Portman Road in the league earlier in the season and then subsequently having beaten 10-man Town 1-0 in a Papa Johns Trophy to at home.
"I think every manager will say the same things about them and the strength of their team and the strength of their window. I think they have added well and spent well and used the resources that they have got.
"I watched them against Morecambe last week and think the difference now, maybe because of a few results recently, compared to a few weeks ago, [is that] they’ve fallen out of the automatic promotion places and a small gap’s opened up.
"I saw an angry team against Morecambe that looked really determined to get back and they’re chasing something. That can be dangerous for us as an opponent, but it might also give us some opportunities as well.
"So we’ve got to try and find the formula. We have played them twice already this year and we have done OK in parts of those games.
"We've got to try and put another performance on the board from last week [the U’s drew 0-0 at Lincoln following four successive defeats] and see if it can be a really competitive match for them.
"But I also want to make sure the things we do well, we do well and try and make it an uncomfortable game for them, try and make sure we carry a threat in the game, and take a little step forward and see if we can build on last week because it is a big challenge but I probably say that every week now.
"Whilst we have to be absolutely mindful of their strengths and the way in which they play, we have to make sure we focus a real energy in our own performance levels and what problems we can cause them as well.”
He added: "You look at them statistically, I think they outperform pretty much everybody with every stat and every statistic says they should be even higher in the league than they are.
"We know that challenge, they dominate the ball against most teams and the areas of the pitch in which they dominate, it’s very clear.
"They’ve got stronger again, they’re very well coached in the way in which they play and they’ve got excellent individuals, but there’ll be plenty of moments in the game when we can take some control, not only counter-attacks, but taking control of the game and we’ll have to be courageous enough and brave enough to do that.
"And we’ll have to defend brilliantly because they are a team which forces you to defend, not just us, you see it against everybody they play, that’s how they play, that’s what they do and that’s the of strength of them. We’ll have to be good in order to compete with that.
"I am excited for the game, there’ll be a brilliant crowd, a brilliant atmosphere. I thought our supporters were amazing last week at Lincoln and that sort of energy we’re going to need, and togetherness and optimism from everybody, is going to be really important for us in the 19 games that we’ve got ahead.”