Colchester United suffered another defeat this weekend after losing at home to Cheltenham Town and the club have now recalled forward Oscar Thorn from his loan at Chelmsford City as Samson Tovide was forced off through injury.
The 20-year-old winger only joined the National League South side in late August and made five appearances in his spell there but will now be called upon to play a role in a U’s squad that is beset with injuries.
Colchester United Suffer First Home Defeat Since August
A brace from Jordan Thomas ensured Cheltenham Town left with all three points in another damaging defeat for Danny Cowley’s side. The manager had spoken before the game about turning promising performances into points. His words remain relevant here as Colchester United dominated this match but could not pick up the three points.
They had much of the possession for large periods, accumulated 20 shots on goal and won the battle for aerial duels. However, in what is becoming a common theme at Colchester United this season, they were unable to turn this pressure into a positive result.
Cheltenham Town now move above the U’s in the table after picking up their fourth victory of the season. Colchester United have now slumped into 20th place after winning just two of their 11 games in League Two. This was just their second home defeat of the campaign, having lost to Harrogate Town in August.
They are a much better side than their league position suggests and considering they narrowly avoided relegation to the National League in 2023/24, the overall picture at Colchester United could be argued as being a positive one as they are performing much better than last season.
Injuries Start to Accumulate as Winger Recalled From Loan Spell
Tovide started against Cheltenham Town and provided the assist for Lyle Taylor’s equaliser before the half-hour mark. The 20-year-old now has seven goal involvements and his absence will be a major blow for Colchester United, who face a difficult trip to Chesterfield in midweek.
Danny Cowley spoke of the impact of the forward going off and the mounting injury crisis after the game. According to the Gazette, he said:
“We find a good goal but of course, we then lose Samson (Tovide), which was a huge loss to us when you already have Owura (Edwards), Anthony Scully, Teddy Bishop unavailable.
“This summer, we sold a lot of athleticism and a lot of our pace – Jayden Fevrier, Jay Mingi, Brad Ihionvien.
“You can’t then on the back of that lose the likes of Samson and Owura because it hurt the team and it looked like we lost our way on the back of Samson going off the back of it.”
Tovide joins Anthony Scully, Owura Edwards and Teddy Bishop on the injury list and that now prompted a recall of Thorn according to Chelmsford on X. The former Norwich City academy player has an opportunity to prove himself at EFL level due to the significant absentees having failed to make his debut at this level to date. He could go straight into the squad for the match against Chesterfield.