Colchester United winless in nine ahead of League Two visit of Walsall

Colchester United are winless in nine games in League Two ahead of the visit of Walsall to the JobServe Community Stadium on Saturday.

The U’s collected seven points from their opening three games, but have not tasted victory in the league since registering back-to-back wins with a 1-0 success over Rochdale on August 29.

They have collected the joint-second fewest wins in the division (two) this term - with only rock-bottom Crawley Town registering fewer (one).

Remarkably, Colchester are still unbeaten on home soil with a record of two wins and three draws, although they start the weekend only outside the bottom-two on goal difference.

Boss Danny Cowley said that Colchester are “right up against the odds” last week, but his rallying cry failed to have the desired effect, as they were downed 2-0 by Northampton Town in their previous outing.

Injuries have somewhat contributed to their recent demise. Striker Kylian Kouassi suffered a serious hamstring injury earlier this month, which is likely to consign him to the sidelines for several months, as the club ponder surgery.

Harry Anderson and Teddy Bishop have also been on the injury list, while Jack Payne only emerged from the bench at Northampton after struggling with a recent ankle injury.

One of the major issues has been in attack. Bradley Ihionvien has struggled to step-up in the absence of Kouassi and has failed to score in any of his first 11 league appearances this term.

19-year-old Moses Sesay has at least carried some of that goal scoring burden, with three goals since joining on loan from Championship side Southampton.

Meanwhile, Wolves loanee Leon Chiwome has been limited to eight substitute appearances in League Two, although he will be buoyed by his hat-trick for the under-21s in a midweek victory over Queens Park Rangers.