Colchester United host Barrow in the longest away trip in League Two this weekend, both sides will be on the hunt to bounce back from narrow defeats during midweek, as they aim to propel themselves higher in the League Two table.
Barrow found themselves at the wrong end of a 1-0 defeat in their high intensity fixture against Harrogate Town which saw 39 shots during the 90 minutes, with somehow only one of those being converted from a 29th minute Shawn McCoulsky strike from a tidy Stephen Duke-McKenna pass. Prior to this, Barrow fell to defeats to MK Dons and Chesterfield in their opening fixtures, but picked up their first win of the campaign over Notts County thanks to a 90+7 Lewis Shipley winner and currently sit 19th in the table.
Colchester United find themselves slightly higher in 14th position, having started the season unbeaten, with consecutive 1-1 draws against Tranmere Rovers and Oldham Athletic, but picked up their first win against a struggling Shrewsbury side last Saturday, thanks to goals from youngsters Samson Tovide and Kyreece Lisbie. The U’s fell to their first defeat of the campaign on Tuesday against local rivals Cambridge United, who scored back-to-back goals from set pieces in the space of just three minutes.
Team News
Barrow look set to be without some key players, with two more missing due to injuries picked up in the midweek fixture against Harrogate, but have some positive news, as club hero Ben Whitfield returns to the club following the termination of his contract at Burton Albion.
MJ Williams continues his rehabilitation from a serious injury as he is yet to feature this campaign, alongside central midfielders Isaac Fletcher and Rekheem Harper who haven’t been featured in a matchday squad since the 9th of August against MK Dons are both out of action for tomorrow’s tie.
New addition for The Bluebirds up front Kane Hemmings is also unlikely to feature at all, as he continues to be monitored closely by the medical staff, aiming to regain fitness following his free agent mov.
Unfortunately for Barrow, two important players in Rhys Healey and Sam Foley hobbled off in their midweek fixture and Andy Whing has confirmed they will both be absent against The U’s. This is particularly bad news for Healey, as dropped the leagues to join Barrow in order to regain full fitness, as his time back in The UK since departing from Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse has been hampered by injuries.
Colchester United are more fortunate, having just three players confirmed out of action, although these absences are particularly notable. Left-Back Iandolo started almost every game last campaign, but remains out until October at the earliest for The U’s, whilst new addition Central Midfielder Ben Perry has been ruled out for the entire campaign with an ACL injury picked up in the first half against Shrewsbury Town last Saturday.
Striker Will Goodwin remains out, however is set to return at an earlier date than the other two, albeit not fully disclosed the official length of his absence.
In contrast to this negativity, Colchester supporters do get some good news, as Harry Anderson and Jack Baldwin look set to return into the matchday squad, with Baldwin set to potentially make his debut for the club.
Predicted Lineups:
Colchester United: Macey, Powell, Flanagan, Tucker, Hunt, Read, Bishop, Akande, Payne, Edwards, Tovide
Barrow: Stanway, Raglan, Shipley, Canavan, Jackson, Booty, Earing, Smith, Barkhuizen, Walker, Mahoney
Head to Head:
Colchester Wins 1 Draw 5 Barrow Win 4
Barrow clearly have the upper hand in the head to head, here are some of the recent results between these two sides:
Colchester 0-0 Barrow 3 May 2025
Barrow 1-1 Colchester 9th November 2024
Barrow 2-0 Colchester 9th March 2024
Colchester 1-4 Barrow 25th November 2023
Colchester 1-1 Barrow 4th February 2023
What Do Both Managers Have To Say?
Barrow manager Andy Whing:
“They are a very good team, who just missed out on the play-offs last season, when we played them. They had a fantastic end to the season, and their budget has gone up again, so they are expected to be in and around the play-offs again. We know it is going to be a tough game, but we want a reaction from Tuesday night (a disappointing 1-0 defeat away to Harrogate Town), and if we get that we will be right in the game. If we play like we did the other night (against Harrogate) then we are not going to win a football match.
“We have to concentrate on ourselves, get the best out of what we’ve got. And we know we are capable of that because we have done really well in the first four games and you know we probably didn’t get what we deserved in terms of results, but we certainly worked really hard and were well into games.”
Colchester United Manager Danny Cowley on BBC Radio Essex:
“They’re a good team; they’ve got some really goo players and can mix their game up. They can play more purposefully but they can also build on the first line and have some good technical players, so like every team we play at this level they will bring a big challenge and we need to be at our very best to be on the right side of it.”
