Colchester United could be without their skipper, Chris Porter, for tomorrow’s League One test at Peterborough.

Target man Porter suffered an ankle injury, during last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Blackpool, on the opening day of the season.

The 31-year-old ex-Sheffield United marksman sat out Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup tie against Reading, which the U’s lost 1-0 to an extra-time goal from Chris Gunter.

He is now struggling to be fit to make the trip to London Road, so Macauley Bonne stands by, ready to make a rare league start.

“Chris (Porter) is touch-and-go, with regards this Saturday,” revealed U’s boss Tony Humes.

“Whether he makes it or not, I don’t know, but if he is not ready then Macauley will start, as we stand at this moment in time.”

Bonne played the full 120 minutes against Reading, but has otherwise struggled to hold down a place in the starting XI, and sometimes even in the 18-man squad, over the last year or so.

The 19-year-old burst onto the scene by scoring three goals in his first six senior appearances, in the autumn of 2013 under former boss Joe Dunne.

But in all, he has only started five games in League One over the last two years.

“I think Macauley grew into the game, the longer it went on,” explained Humes, in terms of his showing against Reading.

“It was a tough ask for Macauley, because he was playing against two experienced Premier League centre-halves.

“So in terms of his own personal experience, I think it was a good test for him. He found it hard in the first half, because it’s a difficult job, especially as we didn’t have much of the ball in the first half.

As the game went on, I think we improved as a team, and Macauley had a little more impact on the game. This is a big season for him, and a lot of the younger players,” added Humes.