Colchester United breakdown: Ipswich Town old boys tag, new manager and their weaknesses

Colchester United are the opponents of Bristol Rovers as they make the midweek trip to the Memorial Stadium in the last quarter of the League Two season.

The U’s arrive from Essex a whole 18 points behind the Gas with their objective being to retain their fourth tier status whilst for Rovers, they have a different outlook on the fixture.

Much has changed since the two teams last played in a 1-1 draw back in October with a new manager at the helm which has seen a slight improvement.

To get the inside track of what to expect from Colchester United, we spoke to Jonathan Waldron, a sports writer for the Colchester Gazette for over 15 years to give us an insight into Wayne Brown’s men.

Key player

Noah Chilvers has emerged over recent games as Colchester United’s star performer. Last year’s Player of the Year has been impressive since returning to the team, following a quad injury.

The 21-year-old midfielder was outstanding in Colchester’s 3-1 win at Scunthorpe United, last Saturday. The Colchester academy product scored twice and inspired the rest of the team with his determination, commitment and desire.

Strengths

I’d say attack. Colchester have not really had any trouble scoring goals under interim boss Wayne Brown, which is ironic as earlier in the season that was proving to be their downfall in matches.

They have only failed to find the net once in Brown’s 12 games in charge so far – the 3-0 defeat at Northampton Town – and are scoring goals from all over the pitch.

Freddie Sears has been an impressive performer all season for Colchester and remains their leading scorer, with 13 goals.

However, the fact that he has not scored in their last eight games and they are unbeaten in their last four probably says much about the fact that goals are being spread around the team.

Weaknesses

It’s been better recently, but Colchester’s defensive record has been one of the main reasons why they’ve been struggling towards the relegation zone.

They have been their own worst enemies at times with unforced errors but those mistakes have generally been eradicated, over recent games.

Team news

Alan Judge has missed Colchester’s last two games and is a doubt for the game. Tom Dallison and Emyr Huws were unavailable for the win at Scunthorpe United but could be back again.

Last meeting

Yes there’s been a fair bit of change at Colchester since that game actually. The head coach Hayden Mullins and his assistant Alex Dyer both departed in January, with Wayne Brown and Joe Dunne taking interim charge.

Colchester also made a number of new additions in the transfer window while the likes of Frank Nouble, Sylvester Jasper and Charlie Daniels, who all started against Bristol Rovers last time around, have all departed.

Why is it so many players make the move from Ipswich Town to Colchester United?

Aside from the geographical element of it, I think it was a case of Colchester looking to bring experience into their squad last summer combined with a number of established professionals being available after leaving their neighbours.

There’s always been links between the two clubs over the years but the number of players that made the move over the Suffolk-Essex border was unprecedented!