Colchester V Town

[Bluemike]

Off to Col Utd in a bit, looking forward to hopefully seeing Adam Webster have his first run out in a Town shirt, a nice short trip and a lovely evening so should be good. A win would be nice too, at least it looks like we will not be getting two completely different teams each half.

Summer signing Adam Webster looks set to make his first appearance in a Town shirt during this evening’s friendly against Colchester United at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, while striker Daryl Murphy is also in the 27-man squad (KO 7.45pm).

Central defender Webster, who joined the Blues in a £700,000 deal which also saw Matt Clarke move to Portsmouth, suffered an ankle injury towards the end of Pompey’s 2015/16 League Two campaign and up to now has spent pre-season working on his fitness.

Murphy was given the first two weeks of pre-season off having been at the European Championships with the Republic of Ireland.

Speaking after the game at Barnet last Wednesday, manager Mick McCarthy said he’ll look to give players around 60 or 70 minutes against Colchester and at Cambridge United on Saturday, having previously fielded a team in each half against the Bees and in the opening friendly at Shelbourne.

David McGoldrick (hip flexor), Myles Kenlock (ankle) and Giles Coke (recovering from knee surgery) are not expected to be involved.

Former U’s Freddie Sears, Dean Gerken and Tommy Smith - who spent time on loan with the North Essex side - will be facing their old club, while one-time Town midfielder Owen Garvan is currently playing with the League Two side along with former Blues defender Tom Eastman.

Ex-Town defender John McGreal is now the head coach of the U’s and another former Town centre-half, Tony Humes, is their director of football.

David Wright, Kevin Horlock and Wayne Brown are also on the coaching staff, along with Richard Hall, a former youth player and academy coach at Town, while Steve McCall is the chief scout and David Gregory is their press and communications officer.

A friendly at Colchester has become a regular feature of pre-season. Last summer two late goals saw the U’s to a 3-2 victory, Kevin Bru and David McGoldrick having been on target for the Blues.

This evening's game will see the reintroduction of the Alderton Trusler Trophy, which was previously played for by the clubs back in the 1990s.

In 1993, the then mayor of Colchester, Cllr Ivan Trusler, a Town supporter, instigated an annual charity game played between teams of current and ex-players as well as guests for the trophy, which was named after the incumbent mayors of Colchester and Ipswich. The clubs played for the trophy on three occasions with the U's winning each time.

Details of parking at the Weston Homes Community Stadium and the shuttle bus service which will be running this evening can be found here.

Probable squad: Bialkowski, Gerken, Chambers, Emmanuel, Knudsen, Berra, T Smith, Webster, Digby, Malarczyk, Skuse, Douglas, Bishop, Bru, Hyam, Dozzell, McDonnell, Blanchfield, Stewart, Murphy, Sears, Pitman, McLoughlin, Morris, Fowler, C Smith, Patterson.

[marko69]

Hope it's a massive 5-0 win for a change, buddy.

[phily bon bon]

A one nil win away from home is always welcome.

[Bluemike]

Well it was a big improvement on the Barnet performance for sure. Positives for me was Bishop once again who is without doubt different class, he is going to be big for us this season as he is the playmaker we crave. Dozzell too showed his undoubted promise while Digby & kenlock also did ok, Pitman was lively up front and took the goal well after a great pass by Digby while Murphy also looked surprisingly sharp when he came on.

It's only a friendly and it was only Colchester but the first signs were there that we are getting up to speed with the new season not far away. Adam Webster came on to make his debut but impossible really to gauge anything from that little cameo. Next up Cambridge on Saturday.

[hallamblue]

Thanks for that Mike.

Some rumours spilling about that we might swap Smith for Bennett. Could all be a load of squit tho !

...but I can see Webster and Digby pushing Smith for that CB pairing with Berra.

[herforder]

Thanks for that Mike.

Some rumours spilling about that we might swap Smith for Bennett. Could all be a load of squit tho !

...but I can see Webster and Digby pushing Smith for that CB pairing with Berra.

With Grant Hanley allegedly moving to Newcastle, could be some truth in the swap deal.

[hallamblue]

scum are also supposed to be after a Blackburn defender, so again this might be true...just have to wat and see I guess!

[Bluemike]

I honestly don't see Smith going anywhere, IF and I say if anyone goes I reckon it may be Berra but I dont forsee any of them moving on in truth.

[barmy billy]

Thanks for that Mike.

Some rumours spilling about that we might swap Smith for Bennett. Could all be a load of squit tho !

...but I can see Webster and Digby pushing Smith for that CB pairing with Berra.

I love that word 'squit' Hallam. It is so rarely used these days, unfortunately.

[hallamblue]

better than some of the words I use lol