Colchester United manager Joe Dunne says he is reluctant to predict how long winger Drey Wright is likely to be out for with his knee injury.

Wright has been ruled out of the U's Capital One Cup first-round tie at Charlton Athletic tonight after suffering the injury in Colchester's opening-day draw with Oldham Athletic.

Wright, who started his first competitive match since last September against the Latics, was sidelined for much of last season after undergoing surgery on the same knee, last year.

Dunne said: “It’s the same knee as he had operated on last season.

“But we can’t predict the future and we have to see where he is over the next couple of days.

“It’s unfortunate, because he’s done so well to get to where he is.

“He could be back in a week or two and we have to manage things well.

“We’ll get to the root cause of what has happened and it may be something that’s just a reaction and he’s back in two or three weeks, if not quicker."

Meanwhile, Dunne is hoping that U's fans will turn out in force and cheer them on at the Valley tonight.

Colchester are traditionally well supported at away games in the capital and are likely to have a vocal travelling contingent in south London.

“The London support base we have has always been tremendous when we’ve played at Charlton," added Dunne.

“It’ll be great if they can come along tonight.

“But I know times are difficult at the moment and we’ve just had a home game and have three away games coming up on the bounce.

“If they can make it great but we’re fully focused on this game.

“I want this to be a game that we feel that we can go and win, even though we know it will be extremely tough."

For more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news, see Tuesday's Daily Gazette.