ONLY Championship leaders Wolves have scored more goals away from home than Colchester United, from the five top divisions.

Carl Marston

ONLY Championship leaders Wolves have scored more goals away from home than Colchester United, from the five top divisions.

And that's before Aston Villa's young striker, Sam Williams, joined the U's on a loan move yesterday.

The U's may be stuck in the wrong half of League One, but they have plundered an amazing 17 goals in seven league starts on the road.

Added to this, they have also won three cup games on their travels - at Gillingham (twice) and Millwall.

Wolves, with ex-U's striker Chris Iwelumo firing on all cylinders, have managed 18 goals away from Molineux. But they have taken one more game (eight) to reach that target.

Furthermore, the U's have been banging in goals from all areas of the pitch. In fact, the four strikers have only score seven league goals between them this term.

Clive Platt, Steven Gillespie and Sunday-Akanni Wasiu have all bagged a brace, while Scott Vernon has scored one.

“It's fantastic all the goals we are scoring. The lads have been terrific since I've been here,” insisted U's boss Paul Lambert.

The U's have scored 14 goals in their last five games. In fact, this season has continued the trend of the previous two seasons, when the U's scored at a healthy rate in the Championship (70 goals in 2006-07, and 62 last term).

They can boast 11 different scorers so far, and all of their main wingers and midfielders have contributed goals - Mark Yeates (7), Johnnie Jackson (4, also left-back), David Perkins (4), Anthony Wordsworth (3), Kem Izzet (1) and Dean Hammond (1).

Lambert is poised to make several changes for tonight's game at Bournemouth, in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Some of them will be enforced.

Centre-halves Paul Reid (foot injury) and Chris Coyne (thigh strain) will miss out, while Gillespie continues to be sidelined by a tweaked hamstring.

Target man Clive Platt hobbled off with a dead leg at Southend on Saturday, and so might not be risked from the start.

New recruit Williams, 21, will go straight into the squad following his move from Villa Park on a three-month loan spell yesterday morning. He should make his debut, either from the start or from the bench.

“I've always been a big believer in trying to win in any competition that you enter. That was the case when I was a player, and now a manager,” said Lambert.

“But there will be a few changes. I will be giving some of the lads, who have not played much, a chance.”

Bournemouth boss Jimmy Quinn will be making changes of his own, following a 1-1 home draw against Chesterfield on Saturday. The Cherries were deducted 17 points at the start of the season, as punishment for going into administration, and are still looking to wipe out that deficit (minus three) in the bottom two of League Two.

Former England and Tottenham winger, Darren Anderton, is a major doubt with an Achilles tendon problem, as are defender Scott Guyett (knee) and front-runner Sammy Igoe (groin).

Squads

BOURNEMOUTH: Pryce, Bartley, Cooper, Pearce, Ward, Cummings, Hollands, Pitman, Molesley, Rankine, Goulding, Lindfield, Bradbury, McQuoid, Sturrock, Igoe, Anderton, Guyett, Jalal.

COLCHESTER UNITED: Cousins, White, Baldwin, Heath, Ifil, Wordsworth, D Hammond, Perkins, Elito, Wasiu, Vernon, Williams, Jackson, Izzet, Yeates, J Hammond, Batchelor, Platt, Lockwood, Gerken.