Tranmere Rovers away to Colchester United (From Wirral Globe)

Tranmere Rovers away to Colchester United

10:40am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News By Craig Manning

TRANMERE Rovers will be aiming for a reversal of fortune when they take on Colchester United in League One tomorrow afternoon.

The match, at Weston Homes Community Stadium will be the 55th time the two clubs have met.

Ronnie Moore's squad have won 19 of the previous meetings with 17 going the way of the U's and 18 ending all square.

But they have lost their last four league games and are now sixth on the table with 56 points. They were beaten 3-1 by Swindon at Prenton Park on Tuesday night.

Moore said earlier this week that his squad needed a return to winning ways if there was any chance of remaining in the top six at the end of the season.

Earlier this season a Jake Cassidy hat-trick and a goal from Zoumana Bakayogo gave Rovers a 4-0 win at Prenton Park but last season's game at the Weston Homes Community Stadium ended 4-2 to the home side.

On target that day for Colchester were Ian Henderson, Tom Eastman, Ian Goodison (own goal) and Freddie Sears, while James Wallace and Cassidy netted for Rovers.

Tranmere's last away win over the U's was a 1-0 victory in February 2009 thanks to Ryan Shotton's second half strike, while the Club's biggest success in Colchester was a 3-0 (Ken Finney 2 and Keith Williams) win in october 1960.

Players who have represented both clubs include Alec Chamberlain and Barry Dyson.

Rovers striker Adam McGurk will miss the next four to six weeks after suffering a pnuemothorax, or collapsed lung, overnight.

A pneumothorax occurs if air gets between these two layers.

Lungs are lined with a double layer of membrane, the inner one covering the surface of the lung and the outer one covering the inside of the chest wall, separating the lung from the chest wall.

Once air is drawn into this space, it cannot easily escape and the air compresses the lung and interferes with breathing. This makes the lung collapse, making breathing difficult.

Adam has had the air drawn out and will be allowed to rest while his body recovers.

His training will then be gradually increased, initially beginning with non-contact before he eventually rejoins full training.