STEVEN Gillespie is available again, but he will have a fight on his hands to break into the Colchester United starting line-up.

STEVEN Gillespie is available again, but he will have a fight on his hands to break into the Colchester United starting line-up.

Gillespie missed the U’s 4-1 home win over Bury last Saturday, due to a one-match suspension for accruing five bookings.

But the ex-Cheltenham striker, who has spent most of this season either on the treatment table or on the bench, faces the prospect of another spell as a substitute.

Manager John Ward will be loathe to tamper with a winning team, after such a convincing performance and result against Bury, which ended a run of three straight defeats.

Karl Duguid came in for his first start, since his return to the club over the summer, and the 33-year-old produced a man-of-the-match display plus a brace of goals from the right wing.

Ward therefore looks set to persist with Kayode Odejayi up front, flanked by Duguid and Ian Henderson, for the trip to Hartlepool.

Meanwhile, the U’s will have a 12-day gap between their first two fixtures of 2012.

The away game at Oldham, set for Saturday, January 7, will have to be rescheduled following the Latics’ FA Cup second round replay victory over Southend last night.

Oldham have a plum tie against Liverpool in the third round, set for the weekend of January 7/8, so the U’s will have to delay their visit to Boundary Park, probably until a midweek date later in the season.

So following the U’s away game at MK Dons on January 2, the U’s do not then have another game until a home fixture against Scunthorpe on January 14.