COLCHESTER United goalscorer Mark Yeates insists that the U's will not start as badly against Tranmere today, as they did at Chesterfield on Saturday.Yeates handed the Essex visitors a lifeline, by halving the deficit to 2-1 with his solo goal in first-half stoppage time at Saltergate.

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United goalscorer Mark Yeates insists that the U's will not start as badly against Tranmere today, as they did at Chesterfield on Saturday.

Yeates handed the Essex visitors a lifeline, by halving the deficit to 2-1 with his solo goal in first-half stoppage time at Saltergate. And Chris Iwelumo rescued a precious point with his 73rd minute equaliser.

The U's now turn their attention to their penultimate home match of the season, against Tranmere this afternoon (kick-off 3pm).

Yeates said: “I can assure you that we won't start that slowly again. We always find our rhythm quite quickly at home.

“We have four games left, and the Tranmere fixture is a massive one. Our rivals keep slipping up, and I'm convinced that it's going to go down to the wire.

“We are still confident of getting second spot. It could all be decided at Yeovil in our final game of the season.

“I know that we started badly, but credit to Chesterfield for starting well and really getting at us.

“My goal, just before half-time, was a vital one. It was very important for me, and the team. The timing of the goal was all-important.

“We really needed to score before half-time, because otherwise our heads would have gone down. I thought we were fantastic in the second-half, and missed several good chances.

“In the end, I think it's a good point for us. I'm glad to have scored, because I haven't had that much luck in front of goal, with shots hitting the woodwork and being blocked,” added Yeates, who now has five goals to his name this season.

Tranmere suffered a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of in-form Nottingham Forest on Saturday, and they still need a point or two to be guaranteed League One football for another season. They are six points clear of the bottom four.

Squads

COLCHESTER UNITED: Davison, Baldwin, Chilvers, Brown, Duguid, Halford, Watson, Danns, Yeates, Iwelumo, Clarke, Thorpe, Vernon, Campbell-Ryce, White, Richards, Izzet, Gerken.

TRANMERE ROVERS: Wilson, Raven, Sharps, Goodison, Roberts, Jennings, McAteer, O'Leary, Greenacre, Facey, Davies, Aiston, Linwood, Tremarco, Harrison, Palethorpe.