Colchester United host Tranmere Rovers in League Two

From likely line-ups to key men and the referee, all you need to know can be found below ahead of the League Two clash at the JobServe Community Stadium (kick-off 3pm).

Team news

Colchester could hand a debut to new signing Cameron McGeehan and Jay Mingi against Tranmere.

The midfield duo have both trained this week and are in contention to feature.

Striker John Akinde is available again after injury and goalkeeper Owen Goodman is set to start, having returned from England under-20 duty.

However, Owura Edwards, Tom Hopper, Nico Lawrence, Tom Dallison and Ellis Iandolo are all sidelined.

Predicted line-ups

Colchester: Goodman, Kelleher, Hall, Egbo, Read, McGeehan, Greenidge, Fevrier, Chilvers, Taylor, Tovide

Tranmere: McGee, Yarney, Turnbull, Davies, Wood, Morris, Merrie, Apter, Jennings, Taylor, Dennis

Colchester head coach Ben Garner on Tranmere game:

“Our focus is on our performance and getting those levels right.

“The simple fact of the matter is that if we perform how we did at Gillingham and hit those levels, we’ll give ourselves a really high percentage chance of winning the game.

“If we perform like we did at Walsall then the percentages are much lower, it’s as simple as that.

“So we need to control what we can control.

“We’ve got full respect for Tranmere; they’ve probably not had the start they would want either but there’s still a lot of quality within their squad and really tight games they’ve been involved in.

“The key thing for me on Saturday is everyone being intent and giving a performance that the supporters can get behind and one that sets a tone of what we want to be as a football club.

“We’ve done that sporadically this season and we did it for a good period last season when I came in but as soon as we got mathematically safe that changed and there was a drop off.

“So again, that’s a mentality thing and it’s something that we need to change moving forward so we become more consistent as a group and as a football club."

Opposition view

Tranmere boss Ian Dawes told the club's website:

“The fans are good football people here, I’ve always said that.

“They are results-driven, they’d do anything to win games of football, they love winning games.

"If we’re all honest with ourselves, the position we’re in at the moment is not where we wanted to be.

“However, we are very confident and we have a big belief that moving forward on Saturday, it’s got to happen.”

Key battle

Connor Hall will lead Colchester United this afternoon, at the heart of their defence.

He is likely to be up against his namesake Connor Jennings, who returned to Prenton Park for a second spell earlier this summer, having played more than 150 times for them first time around, between 2016 and 2020.

Last meeting

Colchester played out a 1-1 draw with Tranmere the last time the teams met in March, 2023.

Harvey Saunders gave Tranmere a 13th-minute lead but Noah Chilvers' second-half penalty earned the U's a point, at the JobServe Community Stadium.

Referee

Declan Bourne is the man in the middle today.

The last time he took charge of the U's was in March 2023, in their 1-0 home defeat to Stockport County.

Odds

Colchester are 6/5 to beat Tranmere today, according to Paddy Power. The visitors are 9/4 for the win, while the draw is 23/10.

League Two fixtures, today (3pm unless stated): Bradford City v Grimsby Town (12.30pm), Accrington Stanley v Mansfield Town, AFC Wimbledon v Stockport County, Colchester United v Tranmere Rovers, Crawley Town v Newport County, Forest Green Rovers v Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham v Harrogate Town, MK Dons v Notts County, Salford City v Walsall, Swindon Town v Sutton United, Wrexham v Doncaster Rovers.