Colchester v Sheff Wed preview

Team news ahead of Saturday's League One clash between Colchester United and Sheffield Wednesday at West Homes Community Stadium.

Last Updated: 13/04/12 at 12:27   

Okuonghae: Set for late fitness test

Okuonghae: Set for late fitness test

Colchester will assess Magnus Okuonghae ahead of their home clash.

The influential defender missed Easter Monday's 4-1 hammering at lowly Bury with a knock sustained in the 1-1 draw against Hartlepool on Good Friday.

Midfielder Martin Rowlands, dogged by injury problems since his arrival at the club in early February, picked up a hamstring strain against Pools and looks set to miss the rest of the season.

Having only penned a short-term deal until the end of the campaign, Rowlands' stay at the Essex club looks to have come to a premature end.

Manager John Ward will be pondering changes against the Owls after his side's horror show last time out, with the likes of Steven Gillespie, Ian Henderson, Ashley Vincent, Gavin Massey and John White all pushing for recalls.

The U's are expecting their biggest home attendance of the season for the encounter at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, with as many as 3,000 Wednesday fans set to travel down.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Jones is hoping defender Lewis Buxton can prove his fitness.

Buxton was replaced at half-time during Monday's home win over Oldham as a precaution due to a slight hamstring problem, but the right-back resumed full training on Thursday and could return to the side.

But Jones is not as optimistic about fellow defender Reda Johnson, who missed out on Monday after sustaining a thigh injury in Friday's win at Huddersfield.

Julian Bennett is expected to continue in Johnson's likely absence, while Mark Beevers will drop to the bench should Buxton return.

Skipper Rob Jones is available following suspension but was left out of the side against Oldham as boss Jones kept faith with Miguel Llera and Danny Batth in central defence.

The Owls trail second-placed Sheffield United by two points with four games remaining.

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npower League 1

Position Team P GD PTS
1 Bradford 0 0 0
2 Brentford 0 0 0
3 Bristol C 0 0 0
4 Carlisle 0 0 0
5 Colchester 0 0 0
6 Coventry 0 0 0
7 Crawley 0 0 0
8 Crewe 0 0 0
9 Gillingham 0 0 0
10 Leyton Or 0 0 0
11 MK Dons 0 0 0
12 Notts Co 0 0 0
13 Oldham 0 0 0
14 Peterboro 0 0 0
15 Port Vale 0 0 0
16 Preston 0 0 0
17 Rotherham 0 0 0
18 Sheff Utd 0 0 0
19 Shrewsbury 0 0 0
20 Stevenage 0 0 0
21 Swindon 0 0 0
22 Tranmere 0 0 0
23 Walsall 0 0 0
24 Wolves 0 0 0

Updated Tue, 18 Jun 2013

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