Promotion hopefuls Wrexham will be bidding to return to winning ways in League Two when they head to Essex on Saturday afternoon to tackle a relegation-threatened Colchester United outfit.
Wrexham are currently third in the table, level on points with second-placed Mansfield Town, while Colchester occupy 23rd spot, one point behind 22nd-placed Sutton United.
Match preview
© Reuters
Colchester stretched their unbeaten run in League Two to four matches on Monday afternoon, when they played out a 1-1 draw with Tranmere Rovers, levelling through Alistair Smith, less than one minute after Kieron Morris had sent the home side ahead at Prenton Park.
Victories have been hard to find since Danny Cowley was appointed head coach at the start of January, with the 45-year-old winning two, drawing nine and losing two of his 13 matches at the helm.
The U's are 23rd in the League Two table, but they are only one point behind 22nd-placed Sutton and have three games in hand on the team directly above them, so their destiny is very much in their own hands.
Colchester have shared the points in three of their last four matches, but they beat Newport County in their last fixture in front of their own supporters at the end of March and now face back-to-back home fixtures with two of the top three in the shape of Wrexham and Stockport County.
The Essex outfit have the second-worst home record in League Two this season, only picking up 21 points from 18 matches, but Wrexham have been inconsistent on their travels, winning seven, drawing seven and losing seven of their 21 League Two fixtures away from home.
© Reuters
Wrexham, meanwhile, will enter this contest off the back of a 1-0 loss at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday, which left them third in the table, boasting 73 points from their 41 league games this term.
The Welsh outfit recorded a 2-0 victory over second-placed Mansfield on March 29 but were unable to build on the strong result, and they now sit four points off leaders Stockport, while the top two in the fourth tier both have one game in hand on Phil Parkinson's team.
Wrexham are bidding to make it successive promotions following their National League success last season, and it will be fascinating to see how the campaign ends for the Dragons, who were taken over by Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds and American actor Rob McElhenney in late 2020.
Parkinson's side have back-to-back home fixtures after this one against Crawley Town and Forest Green Rovers, and they have the second-best home record in League Two this season, picking up 45 points from 20 matches courtesy of a record of 14 wins, three draws and three defeats.
The Welsh side will be bidding to make it successive wins over Colchester this season, having recorded a 2-1 victory when the two teams last locked horns in December, while Wrexham have not lost to their Essex opponents since a Division Two clash in April 2004.
Team News
© Reuters
Colchester are again expected to be without the services of Samson Tovide on Saturday, with the club currently investigating the striker's ankle problem.
The majority of the team that started against Tranmere are set to remain in place, while it is again likely to be a 3-5-2 formation for the Essex outfit.
There could be a change in the final third of the field, though, with Noah Chilvers, who was introduced at the interval of the clash with Tranmere, potentially coming into the side this weekend.
As for Wrexham, head coach Parkinson could introduce experienced striker Steven Fletcher into his starting XI on Saturday afternoon to operate alongside Paul Mullin, who has 18 league goals this term.
Ryan Barnett is also pushing to come into the side and could potentially replace Luke Bolton at right-back, with that alteration occurring at the interval last time out.
There are unlikely to be widespread changes, though, with the bulk of the side set to remain in place despite the disappointment of the defeat to Doncaster on Tuesday night.
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Goodman; Mingi, Hall, Iandolo; Anderson, Smith, Read, McGeehan, Fevrier; Chilvers, Hopper
Wrexham possible starting lineup:
Okonkwo; Barnett, Cleworth, O'Connell, Boyle, McClean; Cannon, O'Connor, Lee; Fletcher, Mullen
We say: Colchester United 1-2 Wrexham
Cowley has made Colchester difficult to beat, and it would not be a surprise to see the hosts frustrate Wrexham this weekend. The visitors desperately need to win to boost their promotion hopes, though, and we can see the Welsh team navigating their way to a huge three points on Saturday afternoon.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
