COLCHESTER United head coach Danny Cowley says he will field his ‘best and strongest team’ when they take on Swindon Town in the FA Cup first round today.

The U’s take on their League Two rivals, aiming to get back to winning ways following a seven-game run without a victory.

Colchester will travel to the County Ground without the likes of Samson Tovide and Owura Edwards, who are currently sidelined through injury, while Oscar Thorn is cup-tied.

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But Matt Jay is set to be named in the U’s squad while youngster Hakeem Sandah could also feature, after being recalled from his loan spell at Maldon and Tiptree.

Cowley said: "Winning is a really good habit and it's one that we're searching for and working towards.

“Where we are in terms of squad, we don’t have too much flexibility regardless.

“The FA Cup, we always play our best and strongest team, the team that we think can help us win the fixture.

“To be honest, that’s my feeling in any cup competition, that winning is a brilliant habit and it’s one that I’ve been lucky enough to have for a lot of my career.

(Image: Richard Blaxall)

“Just recently, since we came here, we’re searching for that consistency to do it regularly - my life is a lot better when we win and we’re going to work really, really hard until we get to that place.

“If you look at our season, there’s definitely a lot of games where we’ve left points out there.

“At 40 minutes at Walsall, having just beaten Tranmere 3-0 in our previous game, I looked at the team and thought ‘we’re going to be a good team here’ and then they score a great goal and moments after half-time, we lost Owura and Teddy, I think that’s fair to say.

“We’ve only really had two three-game weeks with league games and when you look at them, we’ve lost Owura and Teddy at the beginning of one and then in the second one, we lost Samson against Cheltenham.

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“If you do that going into a three-game week, you don’t have too much time on the training ground and when you lose pivotal players like that, the game idea has to change because the players coming in have different attributes and profiles.

“This week has been good, because we’ve been able to get back on the grass and work with the players and try to develop their understanding and connections and cohesion in the team.

“It’s been a good week in terms of the weather as well and this has allowed us to do the necessary work; the pitches have just about coped with the load on them, so we’ve prepared well.”

(Image: MIKE EGERTON/PA WIRE)

Colchester will take on a Swindon side who will be managed for the first time by Ian Holloway, who was appointed as Mark Kennedy’s successor last week.

“I was really sad to see Mark Kennedy lose his role so quickly,” added Cowley.

“He’d only just arrived there but this is the crazy industry that we’re in.

“Mark’s a really good football man and was at Lincoln, where a lot of people speak well of him so sad to see him lose his job.

“Ian was a top player and is a top manager, with so much experience.

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“I think he’s managed and played in the top four divisions and has a wealth of experience and still has so much energy and enthusiasm.

“He brings a really good personality and when he was in the Premier League, I always looked forward to his post-match interviews – he always had something quite unique to say and they were always good fun.

“I have a lot of admiration and respect for him as a person.

“I read his book on holiday and he has a unique family life and has daughters who are deaf and having then subsequently met him, the person that you see is actually the person that he is, which is not always true in football.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

“Swindon had a really good result last weekend after going down to ten men, against a very good Gillingham team.

“They fought really hard to stay in the game and then found a late equaliser.

“We understand the challenge of playing against a team with a new manager and we understand having watched Swindon and prepared for them what to expect.

“We are really determined to try to be the best version of ourselves and that’s what we’ve been working towards, this week.”