Colchester United are back in league action on Tuesday evening, as Wayne Brown’s side make the trip to the Poundland Bescot Stadium to take on Walsall.
Wayne Brown’s side saw their scheduled game against Barrow on Saturday afternoon postponed along with all football up and down the country.
But they will be looking to return to action in a positive manner on Tuesday night, heading to thirteenth-placed Walsall in the next Sky Bet League Two action.
The U’s saw the return of Alan Judge during last week’s midweek action in the Papa Johns Trophy, playing just over an hour in the game. The Irishman will be aiming to be in contention again on Tuesday, with other borderline players also hoping to be part of Brown’s plans after a weekend without football.
The Opposition
Our hosts for Tuesday will be in search of a confidence-boosting win, with the Saddlers not having won in their last seven games in all competitions.
After winning their first three of the season, two in the league and one in the Carabao Cup, Michael Flynn’s side have struggled, picking up just two points since 6th August.
Last time out they recorded a 2-1 defeat on the road at Bradford City, and the Saddlers’ boss was frustrated with his side, saying his was the better team despite the result.
“We weren’t good enough defensively, and we weren’t good enough with our finishing. We’ve let them off the hook after dominating them.
“It’s the best we’ve played since the first game of the season (4-0 win over Hartlepool United), and possibly even better than that. Nobody likes losing, but there is a lot of positives there that we can take, I just wish it was the three points.”
Walsall are another fourth tier side that have seen a great turnover of players throughout the summer months, with seventeen arrivals in the transfer window, adding another two in the last seven days.
Twelve outgoings made space for all of Flynn’s arrivals, with some of the recent struggles for the Saddlers perhaps down to the changes.
A player that has made an instant impact since his arrival though, is Mansfield Town loanee Danny Johnson (pictured above). The prolific scorer has found the net seven times in ten games in all competitions so far, including hitting a hattrick on the opening day.
The twenty-nine-year-old is on loan to Walsall until January, jointly leading the line in a 3-5-2 formation for Flynn. But Johnson has been almost the only source of goals, with only three other players netting a goal each, coming from Timmy Abraham, Donervan Daniels and former Colchester United midfielder Brandon Comley.
At the back, veteran defender Peter Clarke has been a fixture for league games at the centre of defence. The forty-year-old summer arrival from Tranmere Rovers has been flanked by Daniels and Manny Monthe as part of the back three, and conceding seven goals, they have been one of the stronger defences in the league.
Last Time We Met
The U's played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with the Saddlers in the last meeting. It was the final home game of the 2021/22 season, and Freddie Sears bagged the opening goal from close range.
Walsall turned it around with Brendan Kiernan and George Miller striking either side of half time. But Sears' second of the game saw it levelled from the penalty spot after Brendan Wierdu had been fouled.
Ticket Info
Tickets are now only available to purchase from the hosts - click HERE for all the relevant ticket info for Tuesday's game.
iFollow
If you can't make it to the game on Tuesday, you can keep up with it via iFollow. Both Audio Passes (£2.50 each) and Video Passes (£10 each) are available to fans in the UK and across the world. Click HERE to see what options are available for you.