Colchester United v. West Bromwich Albion (13 Feb) [R]

[DevilDave]

Albion face a tough test Tuesday night as they travel to Colchester to face the U's.

We may have beat them at our place earlier this season, but Layer Road has become a fortress when they are at home - none of our promotion rivals could earn three points there. Derby, Preston, Cardiff and W***es have all lost there. Blues recently could only manage a 1-1 draw. Not since a loss to Barnsley in August have Colchester failed to gain at least a point at home. Their formidable home record is one of the reasons the U's - just promoted last season from League One - are sitting eighth in the table and are in the hunt for a spot in the play-offs.

Can we finally break that trend? We have the squad to do it, but we must shut down one of the deadliest strike partnerships in the Championship in Chris Iwelumo and Jamie Cureton.

On a side note, we will find out tomorrow night whether we are due for a trip to Middlesbrough or Bristol City Saturday for the FA Cup 5th Round.

[DevilDave]

A great win for Albion tonight at one of the toughest places to earn an away win.

The Baggies held firm in the first half, creating chances and keeping Colchester from developing many of their own. The opening minutes of the second half saw the Baggies deliver two goals barely more than a minute apart, the first from Paul McShane off a corner from Robert Koren, and the second another goal from the highly prolific Diomansy Kamara.

Colchester's Johnnie Jackson quickly pulled one back minutes later, but fortunately the U's were unable to get more. Both sides were able to create good chances in the final half-hour (including two instances - one for each team - where a near-goal was ruled out by the ref or the linesmen.) Fortunately, the Albion defence held firm and withstood the final push by Colchester.

We are now in sole possession of second place in the table for the moment, and Derby are now just four points in front of us. If we can keep playing like this, we might be able to win the league. :D

We get a brief break from the league this weekend as we face Tony Mowbray's first club, Middlesbrough, in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. It took penalties for Boro to see off a tough challenge from Bristol City tonight in their replay at The Riverside.