Porter off menu as Us seek to kick-start season

CHRIS Porter won’t be on hand to rub salt into any more Athletic wounds tonight.

The striker — the Us captain for the season — is out with an ankle injury, weakening the opposition’s forward line. Porter (31) was part of the Colchester side that picked up a 1-0 win in Oldham last season.

His replacement, Macauley Bonne, was at least on the scoresheet in the 2-1 defeat at Peterborough at the weekend. Yet to pick up three points this season, manager Tony Humes felt his side deserved more after taking the lead.

“We were very good in the first 20 minutes and we did what we set out to do,” Humes said. “We looked very solid and caught them on a few counter-attacks, one of which we scored from. But then the players stopped doing it, for some reason. That’s why we ended up losing.”

The Essex club drew 2-2 with Blackpool on the opening day and followed that up with a 1-0 defeat at home to Reading in the Capital One Cup.

Former Athletic defender George Elokobi has yet to make his debut for the Us in his second spell at the club, having missed most of pre-season with an apparent calf problem. He is unlikely to come straight in tonight.