Tomorrow evening sees Crewe Alexandra host Colchester United at the Alexandra Stadium in front of a massive crowd, one that could be the biggest ever in terms of Crewe fans sitting at the ground in history.
This Season:
This season sees the U’s sitting in 18th place in the league having beaten MK Dons, Tranmere Rovers, Grimsby Town and Swindon Town, they have drawn with Accrington Stanley, Bromley, Morecambe, Port Vale, Carlisle United, Chesterfield, Barrow, Bradford City, Fleetwood Town and Newport County while they have lost against AFC Wimbledon, Harrogate Town, Walsall, Cheltenham Town and Salford City.
They lost against Swindon in the FA Cup 1st Round after extra time and against Brentford (having beaten Reading on penalties in the previous round) in the 2nd Round of the Carabao Cup. In their EFL Trophy group, they beat MK Dons and Arsenal’s Under-21s either side of a penalties defeat against Leyton Orient to finish top of their group before defeating AFC Wimbledon in the second round to set up a trip to Cheltenham in the New Year.
Transfers:
They have signed goalkeeper Matt Macey, defenders Ben Goodliffe, Rob Hunt and Tom Flanagan, midfielders Jack Payne, Alex Woodyard, Alfie Bendle, Teddy Bishop and Joel Thompson with forwards Harry Anderson, Kien Connolly, John-Kymani Gordon and Lyle Taylor completing their permanent signings. Defender Aaron Donnelly, midfielder Jamie McDonnell and forwardAnthony Scully have all joined on season-long loans.
Leaving the club this summer were Harry Beadle, Ted Collins, Al-Amin Kazeem, Marley Marshall-Miranda, Ronnie Nelson, Gene Kennedy, Cameron McGeehan, Tom Dallison, Sam Hornby, John Akinde, Bayan Aman, Kaan Bennett, Ryan Lowe, Taizo Marcel-Dilaver, Kennedy Mupomba, Donnell Thomas, Matt Yates and Conor Wilkinson left when their deals expired with Jayden Fevrier, Jay Mengi, Connor Hall, Noah Chilvers and Bradley Ihionvien all leaving for undisclosed fees.
Coaches Thoughts:
Here are the thoughts of the two sets of coaching staff heading into the game:
There was no preview from the Colchester staff at the time of publishing.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 24
Col U Wins: 30
Draws: 9
Biggest Alex Win: 7-1 at the Alexandra Stadium in April 1993
Biggest Col U Win: 6-0 at the Colchester Community Stadium in August 2018
Last Meeting
Colchester United 1-1 Crewe Alexandra, 27th April 2024
Noah Chilvers opened the scoring for the hosts 10 minutes before the break with Elliott Nevitt equalising in second-half stoppage-time.
Crewe: Stryjek; Cooney (Kirk 81), Demetriou, Williams, Adebisi; Tabiner, Billington; Tracey (Baker-Richardson 71), Holicek (Austerfield 46), Long (Rowe 46); Nevitt
Booked – Rowe 49
Col U: Hornby; Mingi, Kelleher, Hall, Iandolo; McGeehan, Read; Fevrier, Hopper, Chilvers; Akinde (Harbottle 68)
Booked – Kelleher 62
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Ernie Adams, Ademola Bankole, Ben Williams
Defenders: Sagi Burton, Dean Howell, Tony McCarthy, Mick Packer, Efe Sodje, Paul Tierney, David Wright, Steve Wright
Midfielders: Andy Bond, David Fox, Tecwun Jones, Brian Launders, Alan Maybury
Forwards: Terry Anderson, Graham Barrett, Pat Connolly, Fred Inskip, Mika Mandron, Jamie Moralee, Dean Morgan, Bill Pendergast, Chris Porter, Dominic Smith, Billy Stark
Officials:
The EFL have announced that Geoff Eltringham is tomorrow’s referee with Blake Antrobus and Alex James assisting him and Matt Corlett the fourth official. Eltringham has refereed the following Crewe games in the last 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Forest Green Rovers (1st April 2024)
