Setting the scene…
Tranmere Rovers are back on the road this Saturday, looking for a sixth straight League Two victory away at promotion-rivals Colchester United.
Micky Mellon’s side, who are fifth, make the long journey to Essex aiming to continue their winning run in the fourth-tier after seeing last weekend’s fixture away to Oldham Athletic postponed due to Boundary Park’s waterlogged pitch.
Saturday’s opponents, Colchester, welcome TRFC to the JobServe Community Stadium coming off the back of two straight 3-0 defeats to Exeter City and Forest Green Rovers – results which has seen them drop out of the Play-Off positions down to eighth but they know a win will close the gap on the teams above them in the standings.
Team news
Zoumana Bakayogo is back running but will not be at full fitness for this weekend's match. Adam Buxton has also returned to training.
Ishmael Miller remains the only long term absentee for Tranmere Rovers.
The U’s season so far
The U’s will be hoping to get back on track to find the formula that saw them in the automatic promotion places earlier in the campaign - starting on Saturday against TRFC.
Managed by a John McGreal - the Birkenhead-born former Tranmere defender who made 195 league appearances in nine years at Prenton Park – Colchester are on the cusp on the Play-Offs.
From their 38 games played so far, the Essex club have won 16, drawn nine and lost 13 and are currently a point adrift of the Play-Offs.
One to watch
Homegrown attacking midfielder Sammie Szmodics has impressed in front of goal for Colchester this term.
Szmodics came through the academy system at the U’s, making his first-team debut when he came off the bench in a 1-1 draw away to Bristol City at Ashton Gate back in September 2013.
And he has since become one of his club’s key players at the age of 23 and has made 134 league appearances for Colchester since his debut nearly six-years ago – either side of a brief loan stay at non-league Braintree Town in 2015/16.
This season, Szmodics leads McGreal’s side’s goalscoring charts, netting 12 in all competitions.
Match Officials
Referee: Ross Joyce
Assistants: Rob Smith and Joe Clark
Fourth Official: Will Finnie
Tickets
Tickets for our away fixture at Colchester United on Saturday are still on sale.
The SWA have been allocated 286 tickets in the East Block 1 and 210 tickets in East Block 2 ahead of the long trip down to Essex.
Tickets will go off sale completely on Friday 22nd March at 12pm.
Coach travel is also available for this game. The coach will leave Prenton Park at 7:30am. You can buy your match tickets and coach tickets here.
Match Coverage
Can’t make it to Rovers’ away game at Colchester United on Saturday afternoon? Don’t worry as you can keep up with goings on at the JobServe Community Stadium.
You can now sign up to Tranmere Rovers’ iFollow, which allows access to extended highlights and interviews with manager Micky Mellon and a player, after the game.
To sign up, click here
Alternatively, you can follow the action through our social media channels below, with full text coverage during the fixture, followed by a match report.
Twitter: @tranmererovers
Facebook: @trfcofficial
Instagram: @tranmererovers