COLCHESTER United are hopeful that goalkeeper Owen Goodman's ankle injury will not keep him sidelined after he was forced to miss their home defeat to Barrow.

The U's had to make a late change to their starting line-up ahead of the game at the JobServe Community Stadium, after the on-loan Crystal Palace goalkeeper felt he was not 100 per cent fit to play in the League Two clash, which the Bluebirds won 4-1.

Goodman, who celebrates his 20th birthday today, suffered the problem in a training session last Thursday and despite training on Friday, felt he was not fit enough to be able to play for Colchester against Barrow, with Tom Smith replacing him between the sticks.

READ MORE: Colchester fans have their say on Barrow home defeat

The U's will be hoping Goodman can shake off the injury quickly, ahead of their game at Doncaster Rovers tomorrow night.

Colchester boss Matty Etherington said: "Owen felt his ankle in training on Thursday just doing a low tempo passing drill and just jarred it slightly.

Gazette:

"He trained on Friday and we thought he might be OK but he woke up (on Saturday) morning and it was sore again, so that was a late change, unfortunately for Owen.

"It doesn't seem too bad and it should be OK in a couple of days but he didn't feel like he was right to play (against Barrow)."

Goodman has been Colchester's first-choice goalkeeper since joining them on a season-long loan from Premier League side Crystal Palace, in the summer.

He has made 19 appearances for the U's, so far.

Meanwhile, defender Nico Lawrence has returned to Florence Park for his rehabilitation following his shoulder operation.

READ MORE: A painful defeat for Colchester but scoreline is deceptive

The on-loan Southampton defender is expected to be out for several months after suffering a shoulder dislocation in training.