Colchester United fans were warned not to place any significance on the new squad numbers revealed by the club today.

In the official list exciting winger Lomana Tresor Lua Lua is only numbered at 15.

That could mean the teenage man-of-the-moment is a shock omission from manager Mick Wadsworth's starting line-up.

However managing director Stephen Gage said: "I wouldn't read too much into the list. Lomana has started every pre-season friendly to date and I think our fans would go mad if they thought he wasn't going to be there at the start of the season."

New Football League rules state players must wear their squad numbers and names on the back of their shirts when the 1999-2000 season kicks off in two weeks' time.

U's line-up: 1 Simon Brown, 2 Fabrice Richard, 3 Joe Keith, 4 Sagi Burton, 5 David Greene, 6 Warren Aspinall, 7 Karl Duguid, 8 David Gregory, 9 Jamie Moralee, 10 Brian Launders, 11 Jason Dozzell, 12 Steve Germain, 13 Andy Walker, 14 Geraint Williams, 15 Lomana Tresor Lua Lua, 16 Steve Forbes, 17 Richard Wilkins, 18 Neil Gregory, 20 Thomas Pinault, 21 Craig Farley, 22 Adrian Webster, 23 Aaron Skelton, 24 Ian Wiles.

The number 19 shirt was to be filled by Mark Sale who was transferred to Rushden and Diamonds for £30,000 two days ago.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.