Tom Dallison and Owura Edwards remain doubtful for Colchester

Posted Saturday, April 16, 2022 by PA

Tom Dallison and Owura Edwards remain doubtful for Colchester as Bradford visit in Sky Bet League Two after the pair missed the Good Friday defeat at Exeter through injury.

Centre-back Dallison (groin) has been out since March 26 and was not part of the squad which lost 2-0 at St James Park. Neither was on-loan Bristol City winger Edwards, struggling with a knee problem, and Colchester are missing his attacking threat having scored only three goals across their last six outings.

Captain Tommy Smith made his first start since mid-March and will hope to keep his place while Luke Hannant and Emyr Huws were both recalled and managed more than an hour in Devon.

Ryan Clampin (knee) is a long-term injury concern for interim U’s boss Wayne Brown while Myles Kenlock, Tyreik Wright and Alan Judge will hope for more action against the Bantams after dropping to the bench on Friday.

Bradford are missing Elliot Watt after the midfielder saw red in a 1-1 draw with Tranmere.

Two yellow cards in quick succession ended the 22-year-old’s afternoon prematurely and boss Mark Hughes felt the dismissal hurt his side, telling the club website: “If we had kept everyone on the pitch, we would have won the game comfortably, and that is up against a team chasing promotion.”

As expected Levi Sutton missed out against Rovers and Easter Monday’s clash in Essex could also come too soon for him as he battles to recover from a hernia-type injury, although he was involved in the pre-match warm-up on Friday.

Striker Lee Angol was back in action as a second-half substitute against Tranmere and will hope for more minutes while forward Tom Elliott is likely to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury and winger Abo Eisa remains sidelined.