Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce hopes his team can build some momentum by securing safe passage into the second round of the Carabao Cup when they travel to Colchester on Wednesday night.
Villa opened their Sky Bet Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw against Hull as the pre-season promotion favourites had to settle for a point.
The trip to the Weston Homes Community Stadium is the first of three successive away matches for Bruce's squad, with league fixtures at Cardiff and then Reading in the space of a week.
Bruce, though, believes a positive performance against the U's can help build a head of steam as the new campaign quickly gathers pace.