COLCHESTER United boss Geraint Williams is hoping to plot the downfall of his former No. 2, Mick Harford, when basement club QPR visit Layer Road this evening.

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United boss Geraint Williams is hoping to plot the downfall of his former No. 2, Mick Harford, when basement club QPR visit Layer Road this evening.

Harford resigned as U's assistant manager over the summer, to take up a similar post at QPR under John Gregory. But Gregory's departure on Monday leaves Harford in charge on a caretaker basis tonight.

“I've played against my ex-No.1 (Phil Parkinson when at Hull), and now it's time to face my ex-No. 2,” revealed Williams last night. “We are just grateful for another chance to play at Layer Road, so soon after Saturday (1-0 defeat to Scunthorpe). We want to do ourselves justice this time.

“We didn't actually play that badly against Scunthorpe, though of course the result was all important. Our final ball let us down, both our attempts on goal and our crossing.

“That's unusual for us, because we have been generally good going forward this season,” added Williams.

Teddy Sheringham is again expected to miss out due to a hamstring injury, while left-winger Kevin McLeod is a serious doubt because of flu.

In addition to caretaker boss Harford, there are several other Colchester connections in the QPR squad. Left-back Chris Barker and front-runner Hogan Ephraim were both on loan with the U's last term, while former Colchester attacker Rowan Vine completed a loan move from Birmingham City to Loftus Road yesterday.