The inside track on Colchester United ahead of Grimsby Town clash
CHANCE TO DRAG TODAY’S VISITORS
GRIMSBY Town face a huge game in their battle against relegation today as they come up against a Colchester United side desperately trying to arrest their slide in League Two.
When the two sides last met in December, the U’s picked up a 2-1 win in Essex to leave them just a couple of points off the play-off places.
An alarming slide since then has seen them fall towards the bottom of the table, and they certainly aren’t safe as they sit seven points off the drop zone ahead of kick-off at Blundell Park.
Just one win in their last 17 league games means they could still be dragged into the mix for relegation this season, especially if they were to come unstuck in Cleethorpes.
So, what has gone wrong at Colchester, and what can the Mariners expect from them tomorrow? Colchester Gazette sports writer Jon Waldron gives us the lowdown on the U’s…
When the teams last met, Colchester were just outside the play-offs. What’s gone wrong since then?
As is often the case with sides who have struggled to find form, Colchester’s problems have generally come at both ends of the pitch over recent months. Having looked defensively solid in the opening weeks of the season, since then they have conceded too many avoidable goals, particularly from set pieces.
That has cost them dear, especially as the majority of their defeats have been by a single goal.
But it is arguably their lack of goals that has been their biggest problem.
They’ve really struggled in front of goal, with only three sides in League Two having scored fewer goals, so far and the departure of Luke Norris and Luke Gambin in the January transfer window hasn’t helped their cause.
Injuries to key players haven’t helped, either. The likes of skipper Harry Pell, Tom Lapslie and Ben Stevenson have all been sidelined over recent months.
Could you see the poor run of form coming?
Not to this extent, no.
There had been one or two warning signs in the early part of the season where Colchester had won a couple of games when they hadn’t been at their best.
GRIMSBY Town face a crucial game in their ongoing relegation battle this evening as they host Colchester United.
The Mariners kick-off at the slightly later time of 5.30pm, and will be hoping they can shake off the disappointment of Tuesday’s dramatic draw at Carlisle, which saw them denied a much-needed win in stoppage time. The opponents today could also do with a victory to get themselves away from danger, having found themselves sliding closer and closer to the bottom three in recent months. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of today’s game, including the latest team news from both sides and match odds…
Injury and and team news team news
It’s been a bad week for the Mariners on the injury front, and they could have as many as eight players out for this evening’s game.
They look to have lost Idris El Mizouni for the rest of the season, with the on-loan Ipswich forward suffering a grade three tear to his hamstring during the defeat to Forest Green Rovers.
Sam Habergham is a major doubt after suffering a hip injury on Tuesday night, while Danny Rose is also a concern after feeling his calf during training.
Max Wright and Sean Scannell are both out after picking up knocks in training, while Mattie Pollock also misses out after reporting a groin problem earlier in the week. Long-term absentee Kyle Bennett remains a long way off a return, but Julien Lamy is hoped to be fit, having been taken off on Tuesday night as a precaution after feeling his hamstring.
As for the visitors, they could be forced to throw in their youth team goalkeeper for his debut at Blundell Park. First choice stopper Dean Gerken is out with a back problem, while number two Shamal George is a doubt after injuring his shoulder during Tuesday night’s defeat at Harrogate.
Midfielders Ben Stevenson and Tom Lapslie will be assessed before the game, while Frank Nouble is available again after serving a onematch suspension.
Former Mariner Paris Cowan-Hall could be in line for just his second
start of the season, having been brought back in from the cold by interim boss Wayne Brown.
Match Odds
The Mariners are in the rare position of being tipped as favourites for this afternoon’s clash.
Town have been priced up at 8/5 to claim a much-needed win with Betfred, while the U’s are at 15/8 – you can get the draw at 21/10. The bookies though are not expecting goals between these two out-of-form sides – you can get over 1.5 goals at 13/8, over 2.5 at 11/2, over 3.5 at 16/2, and over 4.5 is at a whopping 66/1.
If, like the bookmakers, you can’t see either side troubling the scoreboard, you can get under 0.5 goals at 2/1. If you fancy a flutter on the first goalscorer, Jevani Brown, James Hanson, Callum Harriott and Lenell John-Lewis are all priced up at 11/2.
But if you’re looking for more of an outside bet, Jay Matete is at 22/1, while Rollin Menayese is at 40/1 to bag his first goal for the Mariners.
What happened
last time?
The two sides’ meeting in Essex back in December saw the all-too brief return of fans as 1,000 home supporters were in attendance to see
their side claim a 2-1 win. Goals came from Tommy Smith and Callum Harriott either side of Luke Hendrie’s strike as the Mariners somehow came away on the end of another defeat, despite an abundance of chances. Colchester went in front inside the opening 10 minutes, with Town’s defending leaving much to be desired as a corner bounced through the area to Smith to poke the ball home. Town managed to build up a head of steam thereafter, and should have taken the lead when Owen Windsor was denied by a fine save from Dean Gerken. It wouldn’t matter too much though as, from the resultant corner, Hendrie sped across the face of goal to meet the ball and flick it goalwards, with Gerken unable to keep it out on this occasion.
The game continued to go back and forth after the break before the hosts managed to get their noses back in front, and again Town’s defending proved to be their downfall.
Harriott gave the visitors ample opportunity to win the ball back as tried a couple of attempts to get through, before eventually firing home past the crowd of players to make it 2-1. Town went all-out as they searched for an equaliser, with Kyle Bennett almost sneaking a freekick below the bar before Windsor saw his acrobatic effort blocked. Their best opportunity came when a Bennett free-kick found Luke Waterfall just a matter of yards away from goal, but the defender somehow managed to poke the ball over the bar as yet another chance to pick up some vital points went begging.
What the managers
are saying
Reflecting on the point at Carlisle, Paul Hurst said: “Overall, it’s probably a bit unlike me but I genuinely came away not as down as I think people would envisage. “That’s not because you don’t care, but for whatever reason my mind was leaning more towards the positive side of it, and the fact that we took something from the game
and stopped the losing run, and we backed up quite a bit of Saturday’s performance. I’m hoping we can continue on that trend because I think if we do, then we will pick up points. What you don’t want to be is inconsistent in the levels of performance, so that’s probably what gave me more positive feelings than negative.”
Colchester interim manager Wayne Brown said: “With the position we find ourselves in and the position Grimsby find themselves in, we both want three points but that’s no different to what the aim was at Harrogate or last Saturday (against Newport County). “There’s still the same amount of points available for this game as any other, so we’ll be going into it drumming confidence into the lads and try and take a positive attitude into the game. We can’t dwell on any mistakes, because they’re going to happen at any level.
“The lads know full well that it’s a really good opportunity to go there, impose ourselves on them and get a really positive performance.”
PAUL Hurst might not be paying too much attention to other teams’ positions - but there’s no getting past the opportunity open to Grimsby Town today. Colchester United might be 11 points above the Mariners ahead of kick-off, and seven ahead of the relegation zone, but they’re a side who have been on the slide for months now.
Just one win in 17 games has seen them fall from play-off hopefuls to a side desperately aiming to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle with Town, Southend and Barrow.
For Hurst and Town, today’s game gives them the chance to keep the fight at the bottom open to as many teams as possible - as well, of course, as an opportunity to claim some much-needed points.
“I guess it would make them (Colchester) edgy because they won’t just be looking at us, they’ll be looking at secondbottom as it currently stands,” Hurst told GrimsbyLive.
“I think they’ll come to Blundell Park thinking it’s a big game for them as well, and I’m sure there’ll be a thought process certainly not to get beat, but I’m sure to try and probably win the game.
“We’ll see how the game plays out, it’s what happens on the day of course.
“I just think if we can pick up points, the rest of that takes care of itself. If everyone wins now, which they won’t do because they’ll have to play each other, then we can’t do anything about that. If we win, then we’ll no doubt look at the table afterwards and think it looks a little bit better than it was, but I’m not getting too caught up in that side of it.
“If it was the end of the season and you’re looking at it and saying it would be better to take three points in one game than another, I get that, but for me it’s just about us trying to pick up as many points as we can.”