Colchester United boss Danny Cowley on injury concerns
COLCHESTER United head coach Danny Cowley will assess the state of his squad today following a number of fresh injury worries.
The U’s lost both Harry Anderson and Ben Goodliffe to injury in the first half of their 0-0 draw at Fleetwood Town on Saturday, while Owura Edwards was replaced with 15 minutes remaining due to a tight hamstring.
Winger Anderson departed just before the half hour mark of the League Two clash with a hip problem, while defender Goodliffe suffered a groin issue following an aerial challenge.
READ MORE: Five observations from Colchester's draw at Fleetwood Town
The trio are now doubts for Colchester’s home clash with Swindon Town tomorrow night, at the JobServe Community Stadium.
Cowley said: “It’s too early to say the prognosis for Harry and Ben.
“Harry did it in a block tackle.
“He just jarred his hip, so we’ll just have to see how that settles.
“Ben’s looks like a groin; he jumped and when he’s landed, he’s felt something.”
Colchester had already been without the services of top scorer Lyle Taylor for the Fleetwood game.
The 34-year-old striker did not travel after suffering an ankle injury in the U’s 1-0 win at Grimsby Town, seven days earlier.
“It happened when he did brilliantly for the chance he had at Grimsby, when he had a shot and the goalkeeper tipped it over the bar,” said Cowley.
READ MORE: Charlie Adam's verdict on Colchester's draw at Fleetwood
“Just as he planted, the boy has caught him late and he’s got a pretty swollen ankle.
“We’ve just got to see how it settles.”
Colchester’s players endured a long journey up to Lancashire for the Fleetwood game the day before the match and Cowley admits that did not help their preparations for the fixture.
Cowley added: “With the journey, it doesn’t matter what we do.
“We’ve been stuck on the M6 so many Friday afternoons so we left really early on Friday morning but the M11 gets shut, so it ends up taking us from 8.45 am until 12pm to get to Cambridge.
“So, it wasn’t easy at all and of course, when you spend that long on a coach you do stiffen up and to be honest, it’s not great preparation to then go and play elite sport the next day.
“Those long coach journeys can be tough.”
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