U's midfielder Karl Duguid spoke to his club's official website ahead of his side's League One clash against Carlisle at the Weston Homes Community Stadium tomorrow. Duguid, who actually goes as far as back as having missed a penalty for Colchester as a 19-year old in the Auto Windscreens Final shootout at Wembley against the Cumbrians in April 1997, looking for the U's go for it from here to the end of the season :
“I think we are in a nice little position at the moment because we can push on if we really go for it, which we want to do. We can push on and hopefully get into a nice position, we want to finish as high as possible and if that is into the play-off positions then great. But, we have got to continue what we are doing on the pitch working as hard as possible and hopefully we can get there. Competition for places is part and parcel of football, I was in the team to play against Rochdale and did my ankle on the Friday morning, and then the lads have done great.
“So, you can’t complain if they are winning games and doing well and not getting beaten, you can’t really do a lot about it, all you can do is support the lads and then when you are called upon you have got to do your job, and that is all I can do at the moment, support them as much as possible. I think we have got a good mix at the football club, you have got the older boys and then you have got a lot of young footballers here and stuff like that.
“But, I think the manager (John Ward) has got a good mix of youth and the older players, us older ones need to look after our bodies a bit more than the others but the other boys have looked after themselves a lot as well. It is just down to us, obviously Kemmy (Kemal Izzet) and me are the older two but we just do things as we have always done really, looked after ourselves and kept ourselves as fit as possible. That is what you have got to do, if you want to play a long time in the game then that is what you have to do.”
In team news for the U’s tomorrow they will have just one player missing from their normal matchday squad through injury, that being central midfielder John-Joe O’Toole who is still sidelined with a troublesome groin problem. The home side boosted by the return to their squad for tomorrow of fellow midfielder Martin Rowlands, the 33-year old having missed the last three Colchester games with his own groin injury. Elsewhere in the U’s squad meanwhile the only movement on loan deadline day yesterday was one player out, as defender Bradley Hamilton, 19, joined Blue Square Bet South side Chelmsford City on loan for the rest of the season.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Gary Sutton from Lincoln and he will be assisted down the lines by Stephen Ross from Boston and Rob Whitton from Braintree in Essex. Meanwhile the fourth official is Oleksandr Saliy from Enfield in Middlesex.