Colchester United will begin life under the new management of Danny Cowley on Saturday, when they make the trip to the County Ground to take on Swindon Town.
The new boss takes over a U's side who sit 22nd in the League Two table on the back of three straight losses, while their hosts find themselves 16th in the midst of a tough run of their own.
Match preview
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Swindon Town will return to action at the County Ground on Saturday aiming to put a tough run of form in League Two behind them, having quickly dropped down to 16th spot in England's fourth tier as they now sit on 33 points from their opening 26 outings.
After bouncing back from four straight defeats with a draw against Harrogate Town and back-to-back triumphs over Mansfield Town and Accrington Stanley in November, the Robins moved back into a relatively strong position on 30 points from 20 games, but they have since endured another slump, firstly falling to four more losses on the bounce at the hands of AFC Wimbledon, Barrow, Tranmere Rovers and Wrexham last month.
Following that latest loss on Boxing Day, Michael Flynn's side were able to bounce back when they hosted basement side Forest Green Rovers as Dan Kemp netted a pair of second-half goals in a 2-1 triumph, but they were unable to build on that much-needed three-point haul on their return to action on New Year's Day when they visited Crawley Town.
Indeed, the Robins fell well short in that contest as a Danilo Orsi brace and a Jack Roles goal had their visitors 3-0 up inside 55 minutes, and Kemp's 92nd-minute finish was nothing more than a consolation in an eventual 3-1 defeat.
With their dismal run in recent months having triggered the drop to 16th spot, with a six-point gap up to the playoff places having now built up, Swindon Town will be desperate to bounce back on Saturday and kickstart a climb back up the division with a 10th league win of the season at the weekend.
Their visitors, meanwhile, will kick off a new era on Saturday in search of a much-needed victory of their own in their fight for fourth-tier survival this term.
Following the dismissal of Matthew Etherington, Colchester United announced the appointment of Danny Cowley as their new manager on Thursday, and he takes over a side who sit 22nd in League Two with just 23 points on the board from their opening 26 outings.
Of their seven league wins so far this term, the Essex outfit's latest triumph came just before Christmas, breaking up a nine-game run which has otherwise produced eight defeats, as they were then unable to build on that victory over Salford City and stop the rot, instead going on to fall short again in their last three attempts.
After 1-0 and 5-3 defeats away at MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon respectively, the U's most recently hosted Gillingham on New Year's Day, and they would again come away empty-handed as Scott Malone hit the only goal of the game for their visitors early in the second half.
Now only leading the bottom two by five points and sitting four worse off than 20th-placed Grimsby Town, Colchester United will set out to kick off on the front foot under their new boss and pick up three crucial points in Wiltshire at the weekend to begin building momentum and improving their standing at the bottom end of the division.
Team News
Swindon Town's squad has taken a major hit at the start of the January transfer window, with key attackers Dan Kemp and Jake Young having both been recalled from loan spells by MK Dons and Bradford City respectively, with the former having notched up 14 goals and eight assists in the first half of the League Two campaign and the latter managing 16 goals and four assists in his 25 fourth-tier appearances.
Without them, veteran forward Charlie Austin tops the scoring charts with five league goals so far this term, and he will be relied upon to lead the line with more attacking responsibility, with Rushian Hepburn-Murphy also sidelined by a long-term injury.
Elsewhere, Saidou Khan and Liam Kinsella should again line up in the engine room, while Udoka Godwin-Malife, Harrison Minturn and Williams Kokolo are again set to form a back three.
We are yet to see how Danny Cowley will line up his new Colchester United side, and he will be unable to call on key midfielder Cameron McGeehan, who sits second in their scoring charts with five league goals so far this term, as he served the second game of a suspension after being shown his second red card of the season in their 5-3 defeat to AFC Wimbledon.
In his absence, and with Jay Mingi sidelined through injury, Marley Marshall-Miranda may again join Arthur Read in the midfield, while the new boss is likely to revert to a back four leaving centre-backs Tom Dallison, Connor Hall and Zach Mitchell to fight for two spots.
Further up the pitch, Samson Tovide is also confined to the treatment room, and while Joe Taylor is likely to lead the line having notched up 11 League One goals so far this term, there is competition to join him with Matt Jay and Tom Hopper both vying to come in from the start after John Akinde was preferred on New Year's Day, with Conor Wilkinson also fighting to feature after completing a move from Motherwell at the start of January.
Swindon Town possible starting lineup:
Ward; Godwin-Malife, Minturn, Kokolo; Hutton, Kinsella, Khan, Shade; Cain; Obodo, Austin
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Goodman; Greenidge, Mitchell, Hall, Iandolo; Fevrier, Marshall-Miranda, Read, Chilvers; Jay, Taylor
We say: Swindon Town 0-2 Colchester United
Colchester United will hope that Cowley's appointment has an immediate positive impact on the squad, and against a Swindon Town side who have just lost their two main attacking outlets at the start of the month, we fancy the visitors to prevail in their first game under new management this weekend.
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Top tip
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Sam Varley
