Colchester United have made five changes for their League One clash with Wigan Athletic this afternoon.

Dropping out of the team following the 2-0 defeat at Port Vale last Saturday are Jamie Harney, Nicky Shorey, Gavin Massey, Chris Porter and Darren Ambrose, with Matt Briggs, Elliot Lee, Macauley Bonne, Leo Chambers and Femi Akinwande, who makes his Football Leaue debut, coming in.

Jason Pearce and Conor McAleny miss out for Wigan with debutant Stephen Warnock and midfielder Sam Morsey replacing them.

Wigan won the corresponding fixture 5-0, back in October and have lost just twice in 22 games since then, motoring up into the automatic promotion spots, following a shaky start to life in League One.

As for Colchester, the defeat at Wigan represented their second in a week, following a 4-2 defeat at Shrewsbury and set the tone for a dismal run which has seen them pick up just 11 points from a possible 66 since then.

As a result, Colchester find themselves in an almost impossible position at the bottom of League One – 10 points adrift of safety, make that 11 with their dreadful goal difference, with just 11 games left to play.