Colchester United boss John McGreal is hoping all of his players will be able to train today after a virus swept through the club.

A host of first-team players were unable to train in the build-up to their Carabao Cup first-round tie at Cheltenham Town, because of the illness in the camp.

Left-back Kane Vincent-Young missed the penalty shoot-out defeat at Whaddon Road because of the sickness bug, while some of the players who featured for the U’s in the tie were also affected.

U’s boss McGreal was also laid low and missed their first-team training session at Florence Park last Sunday as a result, while the club’s under-nine, under-11 and under-13 games at Peterborough United were all postponed last Saturday, due to staff illness.

McGreal said: “There was a bit of illness going round at the weekend, after the (Port Vale) game really.

“Kane came off with the bug last Saturday and Frank Kent had it straight after the game – a number of other boys have had it and I’ve had it myself.

“A few of the boys and myself were all off on Sunday with it and back in on Monday for a light training session, knowing that we couldn’t do too much.

“It was a bout of gastroenteritis running through a lot of the players and the staff.

“We didn’t have time to practise penalties (against Cheltenham) – everyone’s been poorly and unable to train.

“But that’s no excuse – I thought we were poor as a team defensively, especially in the first half.

“There’s no beating around the bush – defensively, we were really poor as a unit, especially the back four.

“I don’t know if some of the players who were out there were suffering from the virus but I made changes, bringing in the likes of Brandon Comley, Mika Mandron and Tom Eastman who had good pre-seasons to give them a chance to stake a claim.

“We picked a team to give an opportunity to boys who we felt performed pretty well in pre-season, knowing that they were unlucky not to be picked for the first two games.

“They’ve had an opportunity (against Cheltenham) to lay down a bit of a marker and it’s disappointing.”

McGreal was left disappointed with his side’s performance at Cheltenham, where they drew 2-2 before losing on penalties in the League Cup tie.

The U’s boss made five changes to his starting line-up for the clash, brining Tom Eastman, Mikael Mandron, Brandon Comley, Aaron Collins and Luke Norris into his team.

He added: “It’s food for thought for Saturday (at Mansfield).

“With the shape that we played (against Cheltenham) do we adjust it at Mansfield?

“We’ve got to bridge the gap with Mansfield, because we know that they’re a big team in our league.”