Colchester United hope Conor Wilkinson will be available

Wilkinson has missed the U's last two games due to a knee injury and there were fears initially that the former Motherwell attacker might face a spell on the sidelines.

However, the 29-year-old trained at Florence Park yesterday and could return to Colchester's squad for their clash with the Hatters, at the JobServe Community Stadium.

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Jayden Fevrier and Owura Edwards, who both missed the U's 1-1 draw at Salford City on Tuesday night, may also return.

Colchester head coach Danny Cowley said: “It’s good news on Conor Wilkinson, because we feared the worst really.

“He’d taken an injury to his knee on a block tackle.

“He’s already had a cruciate on that knee and cartilage damage on that knee previously.

“He actually has two bolts in that knee as well, so we feared the worst but the good news is that the scan came back clean.

“He’s been able to train today and so have Owura Edwards and Jayden Fevrier.

“We’re hopeful that it leaves one, maybe two of those being available to us, on Saturday."

Colchester changed their formation for the Salford game in midweek, switching to three at the back with wing-backs for the first time since the Cowleys took over.

The unavailability of wide men in the squad the decision to change system by boss Cowley, who then reverted to a flat back four in the second half.

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“We obviously had to change the system on Saturday; we changed it twice and credit to the players, because that’s never easy," added Cowley, who will also check on the fitness of midfielder Arthur Read ahead of tomorrow's game.

“For us, the numbers are the numbers and the principles always stay the same.

“But we would certainly like to have some ball carriers on the pitch, because that gives us a much better balance.

“I’m hopeful that we’ll have one or two back for Saturday.”