By Liam Lines

MARK ROBERTS insists Forest Green must err on the side of caution ahead of their League Two clash at struggling Colchester United on Saturday.

Roberts, 33, who penned a one-year at The New Lawn on Friday, after leaving Cambridge United by mutual consent, is expected to make his debut at the heart of Rovers’ defence.

In the embryonic stages of League Two, Colchester United have taken one point from their opening three games and sit one place above bottom of the table Crawley Town.

But Roberts believes the U’s will be a hard nut to crack, he said: “It’s a league where anyone can beat anyone on the day. Consistency is important and hopefully I can help with that.

“Last year, a couple of teams had really slow starts but went on good runs and went straight up the table.”

Rovers’ line-up in the thrilling 4-3 victory over Yeovil, boasted an average age of 22, and Roberts is hoping his experience will help the young fledglings to grow. He added: “I think experience comes into that, you learn as you grow older, how to look after yourself and your body and everything away from the pitch as much as yourself on it, so I’m big into that and I’m always looking into how I can get that extra one percent out of myself and I’m hoping to play for many years to come.”

Roberts was grateful to Rovers’ manager Mark Cooper and owner Dale Vince for helping get the deal over-the-line with the transfer window set to shut next week.

“I didn’t want to wait till the end of the transfer window and it was clear that I wasn’t going to play at Cambridge. I was looking forward to putting an end to that and delighted to sign for Forest Green Rovers.”

The Northwich-born player is well aware of how his new team-mates will react when they hear of his talents for gardening. “When I was a young professional at Crewe Alexandra, I was quite interested in architecture and because I didn’t go to University the next best thing was a HND in garden design. I’m sure my team-mates will pick up on that because all the ones have before.

“I also had the chance to do a sports journalism degree through the Professional Footballers Association in my twenties. I’ve always been someone who’s big on education.”

Formerly of Crewe Alexandra’s academy, Roberts noted the ambition of the club was a key factor after a difficult end to his time at Cambridge: “That’s football and you’ve got to move on and bounce back, that’s what I’ve done throughout my career.

“Having spoken to Scott Laird and others, they only had good things to say about the club, with the way its run and the people involved.”

“Even today, meeting people and getting to know a few faces behind the scenes, its clearly a well run club. Ambition is something I’m all about, winning and being a part of something that’s clearly quite special,” he added.