Colchester United midfield wizard Steve McGavin is celebrating a Christmas hat-trick following the birth of his baby son.

And now the Layer Road favourite is hoping to wet the baby's head in true soccer style by helping the U's into the new millennium with wins over Gillingham on Boxing Day and his former club Wycombe Wanderers next Wednesday.

McGavin kicked off his festive hat-trick with two of the goals in the U's bumper 3-0 win over Luton at Layer Road on Friday.

The crowning glory followed on Tuesday evening when his wife Tracey gave birth to the couple's second son, a 7lb baby named Brett.

The McGavin's already have another young son, Scott.

There was more good news for the U's camp today when injured skipper Richard Wilkins reported he could be back in action early in the New Year.

Wilkins, who missed the last six matches with a neck injury said yesterday: "I saw the specialist again last night and he is very happy with my progress.

"He told me to carry on taking things easy for the next three weeks and if everything is still looking good then I can step up my training and be playing by the end of January."

Meanwhile, U's assistant manager Geraint Williams expressed his frustration and anger after watching the reserves slump to a 7-0 Avon Insurance Combination defeat at Millwall on Tuesday afternoon.

He said: "It is very difficult to say anything positive about the display.

"We had an early goal ruled out, which I thought was very harsh, but the performance was not what we expected from a Colchester United side. I was very disappointed with the attitude of our senior players."

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