Just what the doctor ordered

Stuart Watson

Wycombe match maybe

just what doctor ordered

By Stuart Watson

COLCHESTER United boss Aidy Boothroyd believes his side's below par performance at Wycombe last week could be just what the doctor ordered.

The U's never really got going at Adams Park last Saturday and fully deserved to concede a late equaliser against a side who are now bottom-of-the-table.

Boothroyd is looking at it in a positive light though. He said: “The Wycombe game could be a good thing for us because I can now say 'this is what happens when you don't play at the top of your game'.

“Sometimes you need a good emotional kick in football. It teaches you not to rest on your laurels so last Saturday might be just what we needed in that respect.”

The U's boss - now unbeaten in eight matches - has named an unchanged side for his last four matches. He will be forced into at least one today though due to the one-match suspension of left-back Marc Tierney, who picked up a fifth yellow card last week.

Three players will be vying for his position in the form of Phil Ifil, Matt Lockwood and Tom Bender, although it is likely to be Ifil who comes in, possibly at right-back with John White switching to the left.

The only other possible change will come in midfield where Kemi Izzet, who has struggled with flu all week, could be replaced by new loan signing Josh Payne.

Following the U's inability to kill off Wycombe with a second goal last week, some fans have called for either Steven Gillespie - who has been scoring goals by the bucket load for the reserves - or Kevin Lisbie to be given a chance up front.

But Boothroyd says he will not be making changes for the sake of it off the back of one result.

He said: “It's easy for me not have a knee-jerk reaction because I've been around long enough to know that things even themselves out. Gilly (Steven Gillespie) needs to keep doing what he's doing and bide his time.”

He added: “In football you need to be able to unlock the door and to do that you can either pick the lock or smash it down. With the players we have got in our squad I think we can do both.

“Charlton went toe-to-toe with us, Hartlepool came to counter-attack, while Huddersfield played with a back five and we found a way to beat all of them.”

Colchester: Williams, Cousins, White, Ifil, Tierney, Lockwood, Bender, Okuonghae, Batth, Heath, Lisbie, Wordsworth, Hackney O'Toole, Payne, Platt, Odejayi, Gillespie.

Walsall: Ince, Cooney, Weston, Smith, Hughes, Vincent, McDonald, Nicholls, Jones, Mattis, Bradley, Richards, Till, O'Keefe, Deeney, Byfield, Nicholls.