Freak weather and summer postponements isn’t confined to this pre-season as Colchester revisit the Kuflink Stadium following last year’s postponed friendly between the clubs – when a storm and flash flooding in 32°C temperatures rendered the pitch unplayable!
There are no such fears this time around as the U’s bring a first-team squad to the Fleet in their final friendly before the real thing starts in League Two next Saturday.
That is likely to concentrate manager Wayne Brown’s thinking and team selection ahead of his side’s EFL opener with Northampton Town and in turn provide Dennis Kutrieb and his players with their toughest game of pre-season to date.
Fleet of course are fresh from a 3-0 midweek win over Ramsgate which followed a lively and exciting performance despite the 2-1 reverse to West Ham last weekend. Jack Paxman continues on the sidelines with an injury but Alex Finney returned to action while continuing to wear protection on his nose, while former Colchester goalkeeper Mark Cousins got 45 minutes of the second-half against Ramsgate.
Cousins’ former club finished 15th in League Two last season after some concerns about relegation into non-league once more that ended after a strong finish to the campaign. That persuaded Colchester’s powers-that-be to appoint Brown to the top job on a permanent basis and he has brought in a number of new signings including Ossama Ashley who played here last summer for West Ham’s U23s.
Other new arrivals include former Chorley winger Alex Newby from Rochdale and goalkeeper Sam Hornby on a permanent deal from Bradford City.
Fleet eyes will be on the potential front two, however, with our former youth-team wonder John Akinde another new signing for the U’s while ex-West Ham, Gillingham and Ipswich striker Frank Nouble could also play a part.
Akinde has featured for the U’s already this pre-season, with the Essex club’s summer schedule having included wins over our National South rivals Bath City and Chelmsford City, a draw with Southend United and defeats to Charlton Athletic and Millwall. While results aren’t all-important in pre-season, a positive result for the Fleet against their League Two opponents would be a big tonic ahead of our final week of preparation.
Tickets can be purchased online by home and away fans until noon this Saturday at fleetlive.club, then at our ticket windows before kick-off. There is no segregation and all supporters are welcome to use our Main Stand bar, Social Club and pop-up bars.
Car-parking can be found at Ebbsfleet International Station Car Park C for the special matchday price of £3 (please have exact change to hand if possible).
And that’s not all as you can enjoy a double-header of Kent v Essex football fixtures with Fleet’s women’s team playing their first game at the Kuflink Stadium, kicking-off against Harlow Town at 5.45pm. Anyone with tickets for the Colchester game is welcome to stay to cheer on the women’s team at no extra cost!
