Saints come marching in

George Burley returns to Layer Road on Saturday for the first time since leaving the club to manage Ipswich. The U’s however will want to concentrate on bouncing back after losing 2-1 to Coventry at the Ricoh Arena on Monday night.

Pre match chat:

“I know there is going to be a bit of an atmosphere about tomorrow`s game’
‘I don’t think there is anything that I can say which will change the attitude of some of the fans, but what I hope is that they will continue to support us like they have all season’

Defender Wayne Brown understands the U’s fans feelings towards George Burley but has asked them to concentrate on supporting the team instead.

Colchester United Team News:

Richard Garcia is suspended after picking up five yellow cards but is injured with an ankle injury anyway.

Kevin Watson, Jamie Cureton and Wayne Brown are all struggling to be fit with Cureton and Brown the more likely to play.

Kevin McLeod could be in line for his first U’s start while Johnnie Jackson will be hoping to take advantage of Kevin Watson’s injury.

Greg Halford is expected to feature after a scan confirmed that he didn’t break his toe against Coventry.

Player to watch: Jamie Guy

The Colchester youngster came of the bench to score in midweek and is tipped to be the next big thing. Could be in for a start after Chris Iwelumos poor show at Coventry.

Southampton Team News:

Southampton will give late fitness tests to Chris Makin, Rudi Skacel and Grzegorz Rasiak who all picked up knocks in the midweek cup defeat at Notts County.

The Saints though have been boosted by the return of Inigo Idiakez, Kenwyne Jones and Claus Lundekvam.

Player to watch: George Burley

Not a player but the manager of Southampton will be closely watched by U’s fans who were angered by Burley when he left the U’s for local rivals Ipswich just six months into his job as manager.

Match Stats:

LAST SIX GAMES
Colchester: WDWLWL
Southampton: WWLLLW

TOP SCORERS
Colchester: Jamie Cureton 5
Southampton: Grzegorz Rasiak 8

LAST TIME OUT
Coventry 2-1 Colchester
Notts County 2-0 Southampton (Carling Cup)

LAST MEETING
Southampton 3-2 Colchester (Carling Cup)

Ref Watch:

REFEREE: D Whitestone
ASSISTANTS: M T McCoy and J Rowbury
FOURTH OFFICIAL: I J Woodward

Match Prediction:

Both teams had midweek defeats that they will want to bounce back from. Colchester lost to Coventry in the league while Southampton were humbled by Notts County in the Carling Cup.

MATCH PREDICTION: Colchester 2-2 Southampton

Next Fixtures:

Tues 21st October V Norwich City (away)
Wed 1st November V Wolves (home)