Colchester United head into their away game against Crawley Town this weekend off the back of a penalty defeat to Tottenham Under 21s in the Leasing.com Trophy last Tuesday, in a match which followed on from their convincing 3-1 win over Stevenage last Saturday. 

The U's have only lost just one of their last five games in the league, with John McGreal's side no doubt relishing the prospect of taking on a Crawley side who have failed to win in their last four League Two encounters, in what promises to be one of the games of the weekend.

With Colchester currently sitting in eighth place, they will be looking to continue their strong early season form with another victory, which will help to continue their quest to establish themselves amongst the top half of the division, with the playoffs surely being the most obvious target for the Essex based side this campaign.

Here we take a look at the XI we expect John McGreal to select against Crawley Town this weekend...

We expect McGreal to continue with veteran Dean Gerken in goal, who has been in solid form for the U's this season, keeping five clean sheets in his first 12 league games this term.

Gerken will likely once again have a back four in front of him made up of Ryan Jackson, Tom Eastman, Luke Prosser and Cohen Bramall, with both fullbacks looking to go on the overlap at every opportunity.

Whilst in midfield, McGreal will most likely start Poku and Nouble out wide, with the latter of the two operating as an inside forward when the U's are on the attack, whilst Stevenson and Comley will once again look to assert control in the middle of the park.

Lastly, we expect McGreal to start the inform Luke Norris alongside Theo Robinson, as they seek to secure three points against a Crawley side who have conceded 19 goals already this term.

[freshpress-poll ]