Colchester United are hopeful that Teddy Bishop will be fit for their League Two curtain-raiser at Accrington Stanley tomorrow. The 30-year-old midfielder sat out the U's Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton due to injury but has returned to training and is set to travel with the squad to the Wham Stadium.
What happened?
Colchester boss Danny Cowley said: "We're hopeful that Teddy will be available for the weekend. He's back on the grass training, which is a real positive. We all understand how important Teddy is to the group. We obviously lost Arthur Read in the summer and Arthur, Payney and Teddy shouldn't have been a midfield three but they found a way of making it work, which was credit to everyone really. We'd certainly prefer to start the season with Teddy, if at all possible."
Why it matters for Colchester
Colchester are still without Jaden Williams and Ben Perry but otherwise have a full squad to choose from, ahead of the Accrington clash. U's skipper Jack Tucker safely came through the opening 45 minutes of the club's Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton last weekend, having missed much of pre-season due to injury.
What comes next?
"We haven't got many injured – touch wood, we've done pretty well to this point," added Cowley. "One or two are just getting to the end of their rehab but probably only two or three that are unavailable to us, which is good because we've had a tough pre-season. The group have done well to come through that and it's testament to them and the way that they've prepared prior to coming in and then the way that they've worked during. We've got a pretty clean bill of health, which is a real positive."
Colchester United are currently 12th in the England League Two table, with 66 points from 46 games last season. They have scored 62 goals and conceded 49, with a goal difference of +13. They are 21 points behind leaders Bromley and have a next fixture against Gillingham on February 27, 2027.
