Colchester United visit Harrogate Town in League Two

The U's lie eight points clear of the relegation zone, heading into their game with 15th-placed Town at the EnviroVent Stadium.

Colchester are looking to follow up their 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers and boost their survival hopes.

From team news to line-ups, key men and the referee, all you need to know can be found below ahead of today's game (kick-off 3pm).

U's team news

Colchester will check on the fitness of defender Tom Dallison, ahead of their trip to Harrogate.

The former Crawley Town defender limped out of the U's win over Tranmere with a groin injury.

Colchester will also check on the fitness of winger Owura Edwards (pictured below), ahead of their game at the EnviroVent Stadium.

Tyreik Wright, Tommy Smith and Armando Dobra are all available again, having returned from international duty.

Junior Tchamadeu, Tom Eastman and Alan Judge are all pushing for a start, after coming off the bench to good effect against Tranmere.

But Ryan Clampin remains sidelined with a knee injury.

“We’ve tried to use this time this week to manage personnel the best way that we feel we can," said U's interim head coach Wayne Brown.

“It’s just about getting as many fit players out as we can, on Saturday."

Colchester interim head coach Wayne Brown (pictured below):

“Harrogate have done brilliant.

“They’ve come on leaps and bounds from where they were to actually achieve Football League status but not just achieve it, to maintain it has been exceptional.

“For a club like Harrogate to do that has been really impressive.

“But we have to try and make the most of the position that they find themselves in at the moment.

“They’re not on a fantastic run, albeit they beat Scunny 3-0 at the weekend.

“But they’ve not been in a rich vein of form and we’ve got to capitalise on that.

“The only way we can do that though is by concentrating on what we do."

Predicted line-ups

Colchester United: George, Coxe, Chambers, Eastman, Kenlock, Skuse, Wiredu, Chilvers, Judge, Hannant, Sears

Harrogate Town: Oxley, Sheron, Burrell, Smith, Diamond, Fallowfield, Pattison, Thomson, Muldoon, Armstrong, Kavanagh

Last meeting

Colchester ran out 1-0 winners over Harrogate when the two sides met at the JobServe Community Stadium, last October.

Sylvester Jasper's 88th-minute strike sealed the hosts' victory, in the League Two clash.

Opposition view

Harrogate manager Simon Weaver (pictured above) told the club's official website:

"They're tough games. If you think back to last week at Scunthorpe, they made it a hard place to go.

"Their fans were right behind them and their team dug in for that first 20 minutes and Oxley had to keep the ball out of the back of the net with two fine saves.

"Colchester, no disrespect to Scunthorpe, is another step up and we've got to prove our worth and consistency levels right across the board in terms of the way we perform.

"We expect them to play 4-2-3-1. They've got John Akinde up front, good experience with Cole Skuse and Freddie Sears and at the back as well two ex-Ipswich lads that form a solid platform and solid core to that team.

"We've got to come out of the blocks fast and aim to please the fans."

Odds

Colchester are 2/1 to secure an away victory today. Harrogate are viewed as 6/5 to get the win while the draw is 23/10.

Referee

Simon Mather is the man in the middle today. He has presided over 26 games so far this season, brandishing 115 yellow cards and nine reds.

He was last in charge of a U's game last September when he refereed their eventful 3-2 win at Barrow, sending off two players including Colchester defender, Luke Chambers.

Fixtures, League Two, today (3pm kick-off)

Barrow v Port Vale, Bristol Rovers v Bradford City, Forest Green Rovers v Scunthorpe United, Harrogate Town v Colchester United, Hartlepool United v Salford City, Mansfield Town v Northampton Town, Newport County v Exeter City, Rochdale v Swindon Town, Stevenage v Oldham Athletic, Tranmere Rovers v Carlisle United, Walsall v Leyton Orient.