Colchester have had a pretty miserable start to the season so far, sitting in 23rd place after losing three and drawing two of their opening five games. Their most miserable game coming away at Fleetwood, where they were thrashed 4-0, former Spireite Jimmy Ryan being amongst the scorers for Fleetwood. They have also had no success in the cups, they lost 1-0 to Championship side Reading in the first round of the Capital One Cup, after a Marcus Maddison brace sunk them, and they also lost 3-2 in the JPT to League Two side Northampton. So they have had no wins in their first seven games, hopefully we can send them home this weekend still looking for a win.
Saunders has a bit of a job on his hands in picking tomorrow's line up, with Angel Martinez being a certain no no, and Hird, Ebanks-Blake, Talbot and O'Niel all looking doubtful too. This could cause a bit of a squad rotation, with players such as Charlie Raglan or Armand Gnanduillet starting, despite not being in Saunders' favoured starting eleven. However, Rai Simons, Dion Donohue and Byron Harrison were all impressive in the reserve teams' 3-2 win over Doncaster earlier in the week. This means Dion could partner Morsy in midfield over Banks, and Harrison could possibly partner Novak up front, or even play as a solo striker. Colchester boss Tony Humes could choose to play new signing Marvin Sordell who recently came in on a free transfer, and also has experience playing for teams in the top two leagues, such as Burnley, who he played for four times at the start of this season before being released.
Biggest Threat: Macauley Bonne
At just 18 years old, Bonne lacks the experience of a top striker, however he has the talent and exciting style to make up for that. He is Colchester's top scorer so far this season, scoring three goals. Two of his three goals came against Northampton in the JPT, while the other came in their 2-1 League loss to Peterborough. He has featured in all seven of United's games so far this season, starting in six of them. He also enjoyed a reasonably successful pre-season campaign, scoring four goals for his side. He will definitely be one for Evatt and Hird (or possibly Raglan) to keep an eye on, and could be Colchester's only hope of leaving Derbyshire tomorrow with any points. Colchester also have a top class centre-back in the Cameroonian George Elokobi, who spent last season at Oldham Athletic.
My Score Prediction: Chesterfield 3-1 Colchester
I think after a very tough opening to the season, tomorrow will be the comfortable game we have all been waiting for. Colchester have looked very, very weak so far this season and we certainly have the quality in our side to exploit that. With Colchester having signed the CB Elokobi, I don't think we will reach the dizzying heights of that 6-0 win over them last season, plus the possibilities of us having four or five absentees tomorrow could cause us a problem or two, but I think we should still be looking at a solid performance, and a win by two or possibly more goals.
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