Colchester United host Tranmere Rovers in League Two

Goodliffe had to be substituted in the 77th minute of the U's 3-3 draw at Morecambe last weekend, due to cramp.

Cowley says the club are carrying out some background work to try to understand why the defender has suffered cramp in games this season but the U's head coach expects Goodliffe to be available for selection, on Saturday.

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Cowley said: “Ben’s good and he’s trained today, along with Monday and Tuesday.

“He’s been fine and it was just cramp.

“We’re doing some work in the background just to try to understand that and why that happens.

“He’d played against Brentford, against a Premier League team in a real high intensity game.

(Image: Richard Blaxall)

“He played 90 minutes but had started to feel cramp at around the 50-minute mark.

“People historically have always through that cramp comes from dehydration or a lack of salt but there are some other reasons.

“There’ve been quite a few studies recently to try to understand the phenomenon more and try to eradicate it.

“He’s trained pretty consistently for about eight weeks now.

“He obviously had a little gap when he had the facial injury but even then, he was able to do contact work and only probably missed three or four days on the grass, off the back of the Wimbledon game."

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Meanwhile, Cowley has confirmed that winger Anderson has suffered a 'really low level abductor strain' after he was forced off in the early stages of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy group win over MK Dons, on Tuesday night.

“He can’t feel it in everyday life, which is a positive," added Cowley.

“He felt it really early on in the game – he just turned one down the line with his right foot and opened up his groin.

“We’re really hopeful that it’s not going to be anything too serious."