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Form guide ahead of tonight's game
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Past meetings with Colchester United
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View from the U's camp
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Past meetings and latest team news
SCENE SETTER
Reds go looking to make history tonight by reaching the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the first time. We take on Colchester United at The People's Pension Stadium in a sold out fourth round clash, kick off 7.45pm.
THE FORM GUIDE
Reds aren't in great form with just one win in all competitions in the last ten games, four of which have been drawn. The sole success came against the U's earlier this month when Reece Grego-Cox and Mason Bloomfield scored in a 2-1 win.
Colchester lost their next game after that defeat to Morecambe, but in the last week they have drawn at leaders Crewe before beating Newport County 3-1 on Saturday. And they have knocked out two Premier League sides to reach this stage, beating Crystal Palace and Tottenham on penalties after 0-0 draws.
PAST MEETINGS
Colchester have been one of our most regular opponents since we came into the Football League in 2011 and we have a decent record against the U’s. In 13 previous League encounters Reds have six wins, there have been four draws while Colchester won three in a row against us before our 2-0 New Year’s Day triumph when Luke Gambin scored twice in the second half after Joe McNerney was shown a straight red card for a foul on Harry Pell. Prior to this month, our last home league win against them was in March 2014, when Mike Jones’ first half goal sealed a 1-0 success.
TEAM NEWS
Dannie Bulman, Joe McNerney and George Francomb are all back in training while Bez Lubala returns after serving a one-match ban on Saturday. U's striker Theo Robinson is cup-tied. Midfielder Harry Pell is close to a comeback after recovering from an Achilles injury and could be in the U's squad.
THE MATCH OFFICIALS
Championship referee Tony Harrington will be in charge. It will be the Cleveland official's second Crawley game. He was also charge six years ago in a 1-1 draw at Carlisle United. In 11 matches this season he has shown 27 yellow and one red card.
Tim Wood and Daniel Leach will be his assistants, Antony Coggins is the fourth official.
TICKETS
A limited number of East Stand seats are available to personal callers to the Box Office.
HOW THEY BET*
Crawley win: 17/10
Draw: 9/4
Colchester win: 13/8
*Odds correct with EFL partners Sky Bet at time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.
COVERAGE
There will be live commentary from BBC Sussex & Surrey Sport's Gary Smith and Gary Copping from 7.40pm on iFollow.
You can subscribe here.
There will also be coverage across our social media channels throughout the game. @crawleytown on Twitter, Crawley Town FC on Facebook and officialcrawleytownfc on Instagram followed by post-match report and reaction.
COME ON YOU REDS!
