COLCHESTER United boss Tony Humes will give injured pair Gavin Massey and Owen Garvan every chance of winning their fitness battles ahead of tomorrow’s League One date at Wigan Athletic.

Massey, who has been an ever-present this season, is struggling with a tight calf, while Garvan has swelling and bruising on his leg and both are rated 50-50.

Neither have trained this week.

Humes says he will leave it late before making a call on the duo.

However, he insists that if they fail to make it, other players are waiting in the wings and more than capable of replacing them.

“We’re waiting to see how their injuries settle down and we’ll leave it as late as possible before making a decision,” said Humes.

“But if ever players do miss out, we know we’ve got others who can step in.

“There are plenty of options.

“It happens and that’s what your squad is there for.

“Some of them are still young - still pups as such, in terms of their careers - but they’ve got invaluable experience of a tough situation last year.

“They should be hardened to league football by now.”

Frankie Kent is also a doubt with a toe injury sustained in last week’s defeat at Shrewsbury.

However, Matthew Briggs is back after serving a one-match suspension and others are fit again and raring to go, including Alex Gilbey, Sammie Szmodics, Darren Ambrose and Chris Porter.

Humes says there is no need to make changes just because of last week’s defeat at Shrewsbury.

“The aim at the start of the season was consistency and, so far, the consistency of our performances has been relatively good,” said Humes.

“You can’t expect to win every game, so you look to be as consistent as possible.

“Staying up last season was massive for the club and we’re just looking to build on that and improve.

“But we can only improve through consistency of performance and we’re not going to make wholesale changes because of one average performance.”