Colchester United are our visitors this Saturday in League Two as we look to arrest a poor run of recent form before it becomes too serious.
The U’s were managed by ex-player Wayne Brown (search him on Google to find an interesting piece about him), but are now led by ex-Premier League / Championship footballer Hayden Mullins, in his first proper job following two spells as an Interim Manager at Watford. The club find themselves sitting in 19th in League Two ahead of their visit, after having a similar season to us last year where they just about managed to keep themselves above the trap door into Non-League.
Players of note for The U’s include Freddie Sears, Charlie Daniels, Alan Judge and Frank Nouble amongst others.
One player the visitors will definitely be missing is left-back Ryan Clampin who is out until the new year having sustained an injury in their FA Cup victory over AFC Sudbury at the beginning of November.
The last six fixtures that Colchester United have taken part in have thrown up the following results:
20th Nov - Stevenage (A) - Lost 1-0
23rd Nov - Exeter City (H) - Won 3-1
26th Nov - Newport County (H) - Drew 1-1
30th Nov - Swindon Town (A) (PJTR2) - Won 2-1
5th Dec - Wigan Athletic (H) (FAC2) - Lost 2-1
8th Dec - Bradford City (A) - Drew 0-0
Moving onto The Saddlers…
We head into this game having not won in 4 games across all competitions and in need of a positive result to keep us in touch with the chasing pack around the play-offs, because somehow we find ourselves not out of touch!
Rory Holden will be missing still through injury, although he is hoping to be back in the mix over the next few weeks, and Joss Labadie may be a doubt following him having to leave the pitch through injury on Tuesday evening. All other players at the time of writing appear available for selection.
Manager Matt Taylor has a bit of work to do where it comes to the starting Xi as the changes he made on Tuesday didn’t really have the desired effect. I would expect to see Liam Kinsella reinstated back into the team, possibly at the expense of Joss Labadie, with George Miller taking his place back as the striker meaning that Conor Wilkinson can go back to his wide-right berth. I would also like to see Otis Khan given a start, but where that might be is anyone’s guess. What do you think?
This game is crucial for us, and we need three points if we are to stand any slim chance of aiming for the play-offs this season, but I’m not holding my breath. Hopefully are are planning for January already and have targets in mind that we can attain, otherwise I fear another season of nothingness and hollow promises from the board, AGAIN.
Who’s going? Who’s not going after Tuesday night?
Let us know your predictions.
- Walsall Win
- Draw
- Colchester United Win
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