Tilson: 'Impossible to do much ball carrying'; Boothroyd: 'Another win for local bragging rights'

Tilly: 'I think we are going to have to alter our own style'

The pitch has been badly cut up by the snow and heavy rain over the two months and Blues boss Steve Tilson described it as 'shocking' three days ago after watching the Farmers play Carlisle last week.

Tilly spoke to www.southendunited.co.uk: "Colchester play the conditions there well to be fair to them and they get the ball forward early with a very direct style. It would be impossible to do much ball carrying on it and because of that I think we are going to have to alter our own style too."

The Southend manager though is not surprised that it has been a succesful season for them so far.

Tilly continued: "Colchester have a big budget and have 30 professional players so I thought they would be up there. We played their reserves a few days ago and it was packed with professionals so it just goes to show how strong they are and that it's going to be a very difficult game for us."

Boothroyd: 'Tilly is a nice guy and has done a very good job'

Meanwhile, U's boss Aidy Boothroyd just want to get another win after collecting 28 points out of a possible 33 already.

Boothroyd told www.cu-fc.com: "The first game isn't that long ago so we've got a bit to remember from that game and I thought we deserved the win. There were comments from their camp saying that we went for the draw, but we would never settle for that - we would always go there for a win."

Can't remember any such comments myself but anyway, he accepts that any local derby is 'fiesty' and this one should be no different
with 'league standings going out of the window.'

However, he's happy that his team, though not playing well at times, have continued to pick up points.

Boothroyd continued: "We've got to make sure we don't get too carried away or too emotional and keep our fans happy with another win for local bragging rights."

Finally, the former Watford manager showed some sympathy for Tilly in hthe club's present position, and losing top scorer Lee Barnard in January. What a top bloke.

He concluded: "I know and like Steve, and I came up against him as a youth team coach. He is a nice guy and has done a very good job. Any team that loses a guy that is up there at the top of the scoring charts will find that a big blow, but a club like Southend or Colchester has to sell to survive and hopefully reinvest in the team. I think Steve has got more than enough about him to build another winning team for promotion."

Head farmer Boothroyd inspects pitch for Essex derby

For those not making the trip to North Essex, as well as live coverage on Sky Sports 1 from 19.30 tonight, kick-off 19.45, there's full match commentary on BBC Essex 103.5 FM and 95.3 FM from 19.00.