DAVID Flitcroft has heaped praise on Colchester United ahead of tomorrow's showdown between the two promotion rivals.

The Mansfield Town boss is a big admirer of the U's set-up and his counterpart, John McGreal.

Flitcroft says he admires Colchester's philosophy, which places emphasis on providing a clear pathway for their young academy players.

And the former Bury manager is also a fan of U's boss McGreal who is leading his side on a promotion charge, this season.

Flitcroft said: “It will be two good teams coming up against each other.

"They were excellent when we played them at the One Call, at the start of the season.

“I like the way they do things.

"I love the business model and what they have done as a football club, really supporting the academy.

"It's thriving and producing players.

“We looked at it very closely when I was at Bury.

“They have a young, dynamic team and a brilliant manager with outstanding core values. You can see that in his team. He knows his way around a game.

“They play with a young energy. They give youth a chance and it's a clear pathway.

“They have had a really positive, consistent season but so have we, so it's a real clash of two good playing styles.

“It's a real head to head we are looking forward to.”

Mansfield travel to the JobServe Community Stadium lying third in the League Two table.

They leapfrogged the U's, who are now fifth, following a 1-0 win over Crawley Town, on Tuesday night.

“The win on Tuesday will give us that bounce at Colchester," added Flitcroft.

“I won't lie – there was a disappointment over Saturday's game because of the expectation levels playing Yeovil.

“But we got a quick chance to avenge that feeling against Crawley, which we did."