Colchester United go in search of more vital points tonight when they visit Oldham Athletic in a crucial League Two match at Boundary Park, kick-off 7pm.

The U's lie five points above the relegation zone with six games remaining and visit a Latics side who are 17th in the table but are coming into the match on the back of a 4-1 win at Crawley Town.

From team news to key men and the referee, all you need to know can be found below.

The manager

U's interim head coach Hayden Mullins: “It’s all ifs, buts and maybes, we know that but I think the defensive performances over the last two games have been really good.

“We soaked up a lot of pressure on Monday and if we didn’t concede, we could be sat here with four points and no goals conceded, after two games and everyone’s really happy.

“But it’s still only one goal that we’ve conceded and we’ve picked up two points, so we’re happy with that and we don’t really want to come away from that.

“We spoke about that today (Wednesday) and I think it’s one of the main reasons why we’ve looked solid and looked to counter, off the back of that.”

Key battle

Brendan Wiredu has been in great form in Colchester's midfield and has started their last 12 games, in League Two.

He is set to come up against Oldham regular Callum Whelan, who played in Watford's academy under U's boss Hayden Mullins.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

Last meeting

Both sides had different managers in charge when the two clubs met at the JobServe Community Stadium last October and served up a thrilling 3-3 draw.

A late equaliser from Conor McAleny rescued a point for Oldham, who were then managed by Harry Kewell.

The U’s, managed by Steve Ball had been 2-0 up thanks to goals from Ben Stevenson and Callum Harriott.

But the Latics roared back early in the second half, following goals from McAleny and Carl Piergianni.

Colchester thought they had won it when Miles Welch-Hayes scored with a fine header but McAleny's 89th minute strike denied the U's all three points.

Referee

Martin Coy will take charge of tonight's clash. He has been in charge of 25 games so far this season, showing 59 yellow cards and four reds.

He was last in the middle for a U's game for their 3-2 loss at Carlisle United, last October.

Team news

Colchester are set to have a full squad to choose from for their trip to Oldham.

Mullins said: “There are no knocks and everyone came through the Barrow game really well.

“We’re pretty full as a squad.

“Omar trained today (Wednesday) and he hadn’t trained for a long time.

“He was back in training which is good, so we’re fully fit and ready to go."

Colchester will welcome new Ghana international Kwame Poku back into their squad.

“Kwame will be available and he’s going to be in and around it," added Mullins.

“It’ll be good to have him back in the squad as well, which will give us another option.

“Having been away with Ghana and getting his first cap, he should be over the moon so it’ll be good to have him back."

Probable U's side: Gerken, Welch-Hayes, Eastman, Smith, Clampin, Wiredu, Pell, Senior, Brown, Harriott, Nouble.

Odds

Colchester are viewed at 9/5 by several bookmakers to secure a vital win tonight. Oldham are seen as 3/2 for the win, while the draw is 9/4.

Games

League Two fixtures (tonight): Mansfield Town v Newport County (6pm). Saturday (3pm): Barrow v Carlisle United, Bolton Wanderers v Harrogate Town, Bradford City v Grimsby Town, Cambridge United v Exeter City, Cheltenham Town v Leyton Orient, Port Vale v Morecambe, Salford City v Stevenage, Scunthorpe United v Tranmere Rovers, Southend United v Crawley Town, Walsall v Forest Green Rovers.