Colchester United return to league action on Saturday afternoon with the long trip to Barrow, and the SO Legal Stadium.
Wayne Brown’s side collected three points at home to Brighton U21 on Tuesday evening at the JobServe Community Stadium, choosing from a much changed eleven to that used in the previous league action.
Nevertheless, goals from Frank Nouble and Freddie Sears turned the game on its head in the closing fifteen minutes, a big positive for the squad to take into this weekend’s match against high-flying opposition.
There will be plenty of players making a case to be a part of the Head Coach’s plans after Tuesday’s game, including Alan Judge who has been recovering from a knee injury over the last few weeks.
The Opposition
A side tipped by many to struggle in their third season back in the Football League, Barrow have made a great start to the 2022/23 campaign. The arrival of Pete Wild from Halifax Town has seen them rise to third in the league standings, four points off the top spot.
As such, Wild has been nominated for the Sky Bet League Two Manager of the Month, with midfielder Ben Whitfield nominated in the player category. The nominations don’t stop there though, with striker Josh Gordon put forward for the PFA Player of the Month award.
Last weekend saw Barrow lose for the second time this season, a 3-1 defeat on the road at Northampton Town, but Wild said he was still able to take positives from the game.
“It’s not rip it up and start again. We’ve shown we can match teams who are going to be at the top end of the league. What we’ve got to do is learn from our mistakes.
“We’re not the finished article, far from it, and we’ve got to learn from this game.”
The defeat saw Barrow concede their seventh, eighth and ninth league goals this campaign, with Wild’s side holding the second leakiest defence in the top seven.
But the Bluebirds’ boss will be encouraged by his team’s goalscoring prowess: Barrow have netted eleven goals this season, one of only seven teams to hit double figures in the league.
And leading the way in the North West is former Walsall forward, Josh Gordon (pictured above). The twenty-seven-year-old is in his second season at Holker Street, and has hit five league goals in seven games so far, including two in his last two against Wimbledon and Northampton.
Deployed down the middle of an attacking three, the pacey forward has been aided by summer arrival from Stockport County, Ben Whitfield, who has notched up five assists and two goals so far this campaign, assisting four of the leading goalscorer’s five strikes.
Last Time We Met
The U's were beaten in the last meeting between the two. Barrow took three points in mid-January with Tom Dallison netting an own goal before Josh Kay sealed the game in second half stoppage time.
Ticket Info
Tickets are available from the Colchester United Ticket Office until 2pm, Friday 9th September, and then from the hosts on the day.
Click HERE for the full ticketing details on the game.
iFollow
If you can't make it to the game on Saturday afternoon, you can keep up with it via iFollow. Audio passes are available for £2.50 in the UK, with video passes available for £10 if you are watching from outside the UK. Click HERE to see what options are available for you.