Sam Walker and Elliot Parish will this week battle it out to secure a place in Colchester United’s starting line-up for their curtain-raiser against Blackpool.

U’s boss Tony Humes says at this stage both goalkeepers stand an equal chance of playing in the League One opener against the Seasiders, this weekend.

Parish has impressed in Colchester’s friendlies over recent weeks, after arriving on a free transfer last month.

But Walker, who played in all but one of Colchester’s league games last season, is edging closer to full fitness having missed the start of pre-season due to a knee injury.

Both goalkeepers each played 45 minutes in Colchester’s 1-0 friendly defeat at the hands of a Fulham XI, last weekend.

And U’s manager Humes says he will decide this week who will start between the sticks for Colchester, next Saturday.

Humes said: “Sam’s been in full training and it’s about making a decision now on whether we think he has enough minutes under his belt to start the first game of the season.

“That’ll be something that we gauge over the new week.

“We brought Elliot in as a back-up to Sam and to compete for a place with him.

“He hasn’t looked out of place so it’s 50-50 on who will get the shirt at the start of the season.”

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