THE Golden Boys once again meet Colchester United this evening (Tuesday) after a 2-2 draw was played out at Vicarage Road on November 10th.

Geraint Williams' side have picked up one point since the game against the Hornets and the U's have dropped two league places since that meeting. 

Saturday's away victory over Sheffield Wednesday saw Teddy Sheringham poke home in the first minute and defender George Elokobi, who slapped in a transfer-request last month, won the clash with his first strike of the season.

Layer Road is hosting its final season of professional football with the U's moving to a new 10,000 all seater community stadium at Cuckoo Farm next July.

Boss Williams is the former Assistant Manager at Layer Road and took over the reigns in July 2006 after Phil Parkinson's departure to Hull City. Parkinson had been the first manager to take the U's to the Championship and in just over three years in charge had stabilised the club.

The U's finished in tenth place in the Championship last season but lost some key players over the summer. Goal scorer Jamie Cureton left to re-join his old club Norwich and his old strike partner Chris Iwelumo moved on to Charlton.

However new players have come in and others have stepped up such as Clive Platt, who was signed in March, while Kevin Lisbie joined from Charlton. The pair kept the Watford defence on their toes in the last match and will provide a sturdy test once again.

Finally the U's also have Sheringham in their ranks after he made the U's his seventh league club after signing from West Ham. 

TEAM NEWS:

Midfielder Kevin Watson sat out Saturday's win over Sheffield Wednesday but could be fit enough to slot into the centre of the park.

If he isn't available, summer signing Luke Guttridge could make his first league start after signing from Leyton Orient.

Hungarian defender Bela Balogh is a doubt with a calf injury, while Arsenal loanee Matthew Connolly should be fine after suffering from double vision at Hillsborough. 

Full back Danny Granville could also be in contention although Elokobi is likely to have done enough to keep his starting spot after scoring at the weekend.

George Elokobi

The evergreen Sheringham scored his third goal of the season on Saturday in Yorkshire and also played a small role in the PFA XI against a Rest of the World XI on Sunday afternoon.

Williams will need to decide whether the ex-England star can start his second game within four days but he also has Platt and Lisbie at his disposal.    

HEAD-TO-HEAD:

The U's just lead the way in the head-to-head stakes. Colchester have 15 victories to their name compared to 13 for the Golden Boys.

Meetings between the clubs have been few and far between over the last few years. Before the fixture in November the teams had last met in the FA Cup Third Round in 1980/81 where the 'Orns came out on top. 

LAST TIME THE TEAMS MET:

It was less than a month ago at Vicarage Road when the U's more than played their part in a highly competitive end-to-end game.

Adam Johnson gave the Hornets the lead early on but Colchester's two strikers each scored a goal. Marlon King rescued a point for the home side after missing a penalty and despite creating a huge amount of chances Aidy Boothroyd's side couldn't find a way past Dean Gerken. 

HORNETSBET:

Home win - 21/10
Away win - 5/4
Draw - 12/5

First goalscorer: Jobi McAnuff 16/1

Scorecast: Darius Henderson to score first and Watford to win 3-1 - 80/1

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