Bad travellers Hartlepool could slither into the League Two relegation zone, if their woeful away record continues at Colchester United tomorrow afternoon.

A defeat for Pools – they have not won away from home in 11 attempts, stretching back to the start of October – and a home win for second-from-bottom Leyton Orient against lowly Cheltenham, would see Dave Jones’ men slip into the bottom two.

Tomorrow they face a U’s side brimming with confidence, despite all their much-publicised injury woes, following a hard-earned 1-0 home win over play-off rivals Wycombe in midweek.

Manager John McGreal could well name an unchanged side from Tuesday evening, and might even stick with the same 18-man squad, especially as he has very few other options.

Luke Prosser, Denny Johnstone, Frankie Kent, Sammie Szmodics, Tom Eastman, Lewis Kinsella, Doug Loft and Lloyd Doyley are the main absentees, due to their various long-term injuries, although both left-back Kinsella and midfielder Szmodics are planning to play for the Under-23s on Monday after lengthy lay-offs.

Midfielder Craig Slater missed the Wycombe game, due to an ongoing groin injury, and he is not expected to figure tomorrow, so Sean Murray will retain his place in the centre of the park.

George Elokobi was the unlikely match-winner against Wycombe, thanks to his superb 25-yarder.

Elokobi said: “I’ll take another 1-0 this weekend, though perhaps someone else can score the goal this time!

“We had been trying to keep a clean-sheet for quite a while, because if we want to win games, we must start with a clean-sheet.”

For Hartlepool, on-loan striker Andrew Nelson picked up a knee injury during last weekend’s 1-1 home draw against Plymouth, and has since returned to his parent club Sunderland for treatment.

Squads

COLCHESTER: Walker, Brindley, James, Elokobi, Briggs, Garvan, Lapslie, Guthrie, Murray, Dickenson, Porter, Wynter, Vincent-Young, Wright, Pyke, Fosu, Edge & Barnes.

HARTLEPOOL: Fryer, Richardson, Walker, Harrison, Kavanagh, Woods, Featherstone, Alessandra, Thomas, Amond, Oates, Hawkins, Smith, Martin, Hawkes, Donnelly, Rooney & Bartlett.

Referee: Ben Toner (Lancashire)