COLCHESTER United boss Ben Garner has revealed they have adapted their training programme in order to deal with their demanding League Two schedule.

The U’s are due to play a dozen matches during the course of October and November, with seven of those fixtures away from home.

Four of their away games are Tuesday night matches, with midweek league trips to Grimsby Town and Doncaster Rovers and an EFL Trophy Group game at Cambridge United following hot on the heels of last Tuesday’s visit to Newport County.

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Colchester are set to clock up more than 2,500 miles between the start of October and the end of next month and with a number of players still sidelined, boss Garner is keen to ensure his squad are as prepared as possible for what is ahead.

Garner said: “We’ve looked at this month and it is a tough month, in terms of pure distance travelled, the amount of hours on the coach, etc.

Gazette:

“There’s a lot of games away from home and a lot of travelling.

“We’ve tailored our training programme this month to cater for that, to try and keep the players as fit and as fresh as possible.

“I have to be honest, I think the fixtures have been really unkind to us.

“We’ve got three Tuesday nights away from home in October/November and that’s Newport, Grimsby and Doncaster.

“Why that’s the case when we could be playing Gillingham, Crawley, Sutton, AFC Wimbledon is beyond me but it is what it is.

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“We’ve got to deal with it and make sure we’re better in future away games, at those times.”

Colchester are preparing for a trip to play bottom club Forest Green Rovers, this weekend.

The U’s are aiming to bounce back, following last Saturday’s hugely disappointing 3-1 defeat to Morecambe.

“The frustrating thing is that the prep and the work has been there and the performance levels weren’t good enough,” added Garner.

Gazette:

“It isn’t what we worked on, it isn’t what we prepped on and it certainly doesn’t reflect my style.

“The staff are ever so hard working and very detailed in our preparation and that’s what makes it frustrating.

“But I’m not going to throw everything on the players, I’m not that type of person.

“Ultimately, it rests with me and we have to look into it deeper and understand why it’s happened - it’s my responsibility.”