Colchester United boss Danny Cowley gives injury update

TEDDY Bishop could be included in Colchester United’s squad for their trip to Grimsby Town this weekend.

The 28-year-old midfielder has been missing for nearly two months due to an ankle injury he suffered in the U’s defeat at Walsall, on September 28.

However, Bishop has been back in training for a week and the ex-Ipswich Town youngster will be assessed tomorrow, prior to Colchester setting out for Grimsby for Saturday’s lunchtime League Two clash.

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Colchester head coach Danny Cowley said: “Teddy has been back on the grass for seven or eight days and he’s such an important player to our group.

“That is really positive and I think he gives us a lot to be excited for, moving forward.

“Saturday might be a little too soon for him – we’ll have to wait and see.

“He’s certainly got a few good days’ training under his belt.

“We’ll train here again on Friday before we travel and it does allow us to see how Teddy comes through – if he comes through positively, then we might pick him on the bus.”

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)

Colchester have already been boosted by the return of attacking duo Samson Tovide and Owura Edwards, after injury.

The pair both appeared as second-half substitutes for the U’s in their 1-1 draw against Bradford City last weekend and are pushing for a start, against Grimsby.

“It’s been really good to get Owura and Samson back,” said Cowley.

“They’re two really important players for us.

“We had to manage their load last week, for obvious reasons.

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“But they’ve been able to have a full training week, this week.

“It’s a gradual process and we work really hard on our periodisation, so we’re always really managing the load of the players.

“The ambition is to peak every Saturday and then every Tuesday and then every Saturday.

“For us, we have to be intelligent in the way we train and play high intensity and high energy games.

“As a consequence, we have to train in that way and the intensity for us in training is imperative.

(Image: MATT WILKINSON)

“For Nicky and I to have that flexibility in terms of team selection and the finishers, who for us are as important as the starters.

“They don’t always play as long in the game but they play a very important part in the game.

“For us to have that flexibility from the bench is really important.”

Colchester are also hoping that defender Rob Hunt will be available again for the Grimsby clash, after he missed their last two games with a calf problem.

Cowley added: “Rob has trained this week and has made some good progress, so we’re hopeful that he may be available.”