v 
BLUES
Francis Laurent has been passed fit after limping off for the reserves at the Borient on Tuesday. He suffered no long term damage and will be available for selection again this weekend.
After pushing for the same team as Tranmere on Tuesday I was as shocked as anyone how poorly they played, however I would still start with that eleven, especially away from home. It's annoying the Moose is so reliant on his right foot which looses us width but he is playing so well, while Francis had no answer to the packed mid-field of Crewe but hopefully more space will open up away from home. We just have to be smarter.
Tilly spoke to the official site about the weekend: "It's a big game for us and good one too after losing to Crewe so hopefully we can get back to winning ways away from home. It's been a while since we did it but we will have more space than we did against Crewe and we need to make it count. Whoever has the most quality in the final third of the pitch will win the game and we want that to be us. For me it's no different to playing anyone else but I know it's a different story for the fans. There are still three points awarded for the winners and it's the same as you get for beating anyone else. We're fired up though and want a good reaction from losing on Tuesday to give our supporters something to cheer about. We've sold out all the tickets they gave us and I just don't understand why they couldn't give us anymore. When I went to watch them against Tranmere there was only 3,600 there so it's a strange one and I think there might be a few Southend fans in the home end."
Should be more than that on Saturday Tills but look around the ground when we score.
OPPOSITION
Steven Gillespie is back in training after being sidelined for a month with a calf problem but may not be risked, while Johnnie Jackson is not yet fit.
10 Huddersfield Town 31 8 5 4 24 19 5 3 6 17 24 13 8 10 41 43 47 -2 11 Colchester United 30 5 3 7 16 16 7 3 5 27 26 12 6 12 43 42 42 +1 12 Walsall 31 8 1 6 24 23 3 6 7 19 23 11 7 13 43 46 40 -3 13 Bristol Rovers 29 7 3 4 29 18 3 6 6 21 24 10 9 10 50 42 39 +8 14 Southend United 30 8 2 5 17 13 2 5 8 17 33 10 7 13 34 46 37 -12
Let's hope the Farmers's mis-firing forwards continue to misplace their shooting boots come Saturday.
Winger and the ever dangerous Mark Yeates is the U's leading league goalscorer with nine goals, but it is now more than five hours since one of Colchester's recognised strikers has hit the net. Indeed, their five forwards have scored only 14 of Colchester's 43 goals in Coca-Cola League One this season.
Head Farmer Paul Lambert though believes a play-off place is still a realistic target. Col U are now nine points adrift of sixth-placed Millwall after losing 2-0 at Walsall on Saturday, their second defeat in a week.
However Lambert told BBC Essex they can still make a late run into the top six: "It's well within a few teams' grasp to go and make a charge at it and the most important one for me is the Colchester team. We've got a derby game next Saturday, which will take care of itself and is probably a good thing for us.
PREVIOUSLY
Read about our amazing 3-0 victory at the old Layer Road here: www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=EDY3&id=433453
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GROUND
After 71 years, the Club have left their Layer Road ground and moved to a new stadium on the edge of town. The new Weston Homes Community Stadium as it has been named in a corporate sponsorship deal, was built by Barr Construction at a cost of around £14m. The cost was largely met by Colchester Borough Council, who own the stadium, with the football club as tenants.
The stadium is functional and well presented, but as with a number of new stadiums built in recent years, it lacks character and is nothing out of the ordinary. The ground is composed of four separate stands. The Main Stand on one side of the pitch is a little taller than the other three stands, which are the same height. All the stands are covered single tiered, all seated stands. The Main Stand has a row of executive boxes/corporate hospitality areas running across the top of it, whilst the others are simply seating areas. The South Stand though, at one end of the stadium, which will be used by away supporters does have a Police Control Box incorporated into it, on one side beneath the roof. All the stands have translucent panels built into their roofs as well as a perspex strip just below them, which allows more light and facilitates pitch growth.
WEATHER
12c's and sunny intervals, blimey it's spring!
REF
The man in the middle is Kevin Wright from Cambridgeshire.
2008/09 Games - 22; Yellow cards 46, Red cards 3.
FIXTURES
Saturday, 21 February 2009; (all kick-offs 15.00): Bristol Rovers v Leicester, Carlisle v Stockport, Crewe v Huddersfield, Hartlepool v Leyton Orient, Hereford v Peterborough, Leeds v Cheltenham, Millwall v Brighton, Northampton v Walsall, Swindon v Scunthorpe, Tranmere v MK Dons, Yeovil v Oldham.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009; (all kick-offs 19.45): Brighton v Northampton, Cheltenham v Millwall, Colchester v Stockport, Crewe v Yeovil, Oldham v Bristol Rovers, Peterborough v Carlisle, Southend v Scunthorpe, Swindon v Hartlepool.
BET
Colchester (10/11) Draw (12/5) Southend (16/5)
For all the footy odds go here: www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-one
TRANSPORT
All the maps and info you need to get to the Weston Homes Community Stadium, Last Call to Colchester here:
www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=EDW4&id=433094
PUB AND PIES
For a selection of the best pubs and where to grab a pie go to Last Orders in Colchester here:
www.thelittlegazette.com/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=EDW8&id=433100
HISTORY
In the 1947/48 season Colchester, then in the Southern League, produced one of the most notable F.A. Cup runs by a non-league side, beating fellow-non-league side Banbury Spencer in the First Round before beating league clubs Wrexham, Huddersfield and Bradford Park Avenue. They finally fell to Blackpool in the fifth round.
United went from strength to strength, and they were promoted to the Football League in 1950.
The Farmers are perhaps most famous for beating Don Revie's Leeds United 3-2 in the 5th round of the FA Cup in 1971.
They lost their league status for two seasons from relegation in 1990 until 1992, when they won a non-league double by collecting the Conference title and the Football Trophy.
In 1996-97 season Colchester were runners up in the Football League Trophy and in more recent times they won promotions from League One (in 2005-06) claiming second place to the Championship.
2006-07 was Colchester's first season in the second tier of English football, and after a slow start they soon entered the higher reaches of the division and there was even ambitious talk of a challenge for promotion to the Premier League. In the end, they finished 10th in the final table above some much more fancied sides including Leeds United, Norwich City and Crystal Palace despite having the division's lowest attendance.
2007-08, however, was less successful, as Colchester finished bottom of the Championship with 38 points and were relegated back to League One.
Colchester United now play in the new Weston Homes Community Stadium, following the last game at Layer Road at the end of last season but it took them until the last Saturday in October to record their first win there.
After some big money signings to replace players they lost over the close season they started poorly and manager Geraint Williams paid the price on September 22 2008 when he left the club by 'mutual consent'.
Paul Lambert was appointed head Farmer after resigning as manager of Wycombe in May this year after the club were knocked-out of the League Two play-offs. Lambert has also managed Livingston in Scotland and won a Champions League winners' medal with Borussia Dortmund in 1997.