Colchester United will return to action for the first game of the New Year on Saturday afternoon, taking on John Yems' Crawley Town at the People's Pension Stadium.
The U's will line up against the Red Devils for the first game of the New Year on Saturday afternoon, after a three-week break with the last four league games postponed due to COVID.
It feels like a long time ago, but the last game for Hayden Mullins' side was the 3-0 defeat away at Walsall in mid-December, and the U's will be wanting to start afresh on Saturday.
Like the U's, the hosts for Saturday's game, Crawley Town, have also not played since the 11th December, and will be looking to start the New Year with a bang with just three points separating the two teams.
The extended break for Hayden Mullins' side would have given injured players much-needed time to recover, with the likes of Shamal George, Frank Nouble and Gene Kennedy all missing from the last few games.
The Opposition
John Yems' Crawley Town will be looking to get their season back on track and could move back into the top half of the table with a win on Saturday afternoon, currently sitting in eighteenth position.
Recent form has become a little irrelevant with neither the U's or Crawley Town having played a match for three weeks, albeit the hosts for Saturday's match have picked up eight points from their last five matches.
Picking up three points on the road at Leyton Orient in their last fixture, Yems' side have moved themselves away from the bottom two with top scorer, Kwesi Appiah, on target.
Appiah's total of eight is more than double the next top scorer for the Red Devils (Jake Hessenthaler - three), although the goals have been coming from all over the pitch for the Sussex side, with twelve different players finding the net throughout the 2021/22 season so far.
Adopting a traditional 4-4-2 formation for the majority of the season, Yems has also employed a defensive three on a couple of occasions, withthe midfield four also changing shape in a handful of games.
Last Time We Met
The U's were beaten by a single goal from the visitors in the meeting at the JobServe Community Stadium earlier in the season. The visitors' strike came from Jack Payne midway through the first half despite the U's having good early opportunities.
Tickets
Tickets for the first fixture of the New Year will be available on the day from the hosts. Click HERE for more information and prices for the first U's match of 2022.