Colchester may have become the first team to be relegated from the Championship this season following Barnsley's shock 3-0 win at Watford last Wednesday but the U's have already proven that they are not going to go down without a fight.

Leicester were the first club to face the Essex outfit after they had been condemned to the drop and the Foxes were extremely lucky to get a share of the spoils in last Saturday's encounter at the Walkers Stadium when a late strike from substitute Iain Hume denied Colchester a win that would have done Coventry a huge favour.

But as manager Chris Coleman has said on many occasions, the Sky Blues cannot concern themselves with what other teams are doing and this week it is City's turn to try and overcome the U's.

Not that they are likely to roll over and die as their gaffer, Geraint Williams, will not allow any negativity at Layer Road, stating:

"I don't deal in doom and gloom, it doesn't get you anywhere.

"I was hurting after we were relegated but you can either sit in the corner and cry about it, or you can get up and start fighting."

He added: "Everybody at this club will see off this season with as many wins as we can and over the summer work hard to come out fighting next year."

The Layer Road boss admitted they could have few complaints about their drop into League One after two seasons in English football's second tier.

He said: "I feel hurt and disappointed, it's not a feeling that I like.

"But over 46 games you end up where you deserve to be and obviously this is where we deserve to be."

Colchester enjoyed their first ever season in the second tier of English football, finishing the 2006/2007 campaign in an impressive tenth spot - their highest league finish since the Club's formation in 1937 - following their promotion from League One as runners-up at the end of 05/06.

Thanks to a formidable home record - the joint best in the division last season along with Sunderland and Preston - the Essex outfit finished only six points shy of the play-off places to give fans high hopes ahead of this term.

And with the likes of the experienced Teddy Sheringham, Kevin Lisbie and Danny Granville arriving at Fortress Layer Road last summer, there was genuine optimism that Colchester would tackle the "tricky second season" with few problems.

A positive start to the season - with no loss in their first three games - indicated that the U's would pick up where they had left off but it did not take long for their home form to dessert them and they have gone from having the best home record to the worst, with only four wins on their own turf so far this term.

On top of this, they have the worst defensive record in the league, having conceded 77 goals.

Current Form

Colchester recorded an impressive 2-0 win over Ipswich in their last home encounter, to bring to an end a run of 10 games without a victory.

After their draw against the Foxes they are unbeaten in their last two matches and City will have to go all-out to ensure that run comes to an end or face more drastic worries over their own survival hopes.

The Sky Blues will have to turn the form book on its head if they are to grab three points tomorrow. They are without a win on the road in the league since they beat West Brom 4-2 at the start of December and have not been victorious on their travels in their last 11 attempts.

Star Man: Scott Vernon

Scorer of both of Colchester's goals against Ipswich, Vernon made the switch to Layer Road from Blackpool in January.

The 24-year-old striker had previously enjoyed a loan spell with the U's at the end of the 2005/06 season, when he scored once in four starts and his tally this time around is three goals in four starts.

He began his career at Oldham where he established a good strike rate of nearly a goal every two starts before switching to Bloomfield Road in the summer of 2005.

In 70 league appearances for the Tangerines, he netted 16 goals and Vernon will now be looking to stay hot in front of goal and help Colchester end this campaign on a high note.

The Last Time we Met

10/3/07: Colchester 0 Coventry 0

Coventry made it four games unbeaten after securing a point courtesy of a goalless draw at Colchester towards the end of last season.

It was a creditable result for Iain Dowie's men against a U's side who had lost only once in their last 16 home games.

The result also meant that the Sky Blues remained unbeaten in four outings since Dowie took over.