Crewe Alexandra travel to the JobServe Community Stadium to face Colchester United on Saturday 3 November at 3pm in a League Two fixture.
Manager Lee Bell expects a competitive match against an experienced Colchester squad. "They always put good teams together, good squads. They have good experience in their squads with some good younger players," Bell said. "It'll be a test away from home. They'll be expecting to come out with all guns blazing and we'll come up with a plan of how we're going to hurt them. That's what we'll be focusing on – how can we outperform the opposition away from home?"
Crewe's strong start
The Railwaymen are unbeaten in their opening five league games, with two wins and three draws. This leaves them seventh in the early-season table.
Colchester have collected seven points from their opening matches but have struggled recently. Back-to-back defeats against Bristol Rovers and Swindon have left them 12th in the standings.
Head-to-head record
Crewe have not lost in six clashes with Colchester but have not won in seven attempts in Essex.
Team news
Bell did not provide specific details on player availability but said: "We'll know in the next couple of days exactly where everybody is. You have to let things heal up and go from there. We're hopeful everybody will be okay."
