Offrande Zanzala remains sidelined for Newport ahead of Colchester clash

Offrande Zanzala remains sidelined for Newport as they prepare for a second meeting with Colchester in quick succession, this time in the FA Cup.

Zanzala returned from a hamstring injury in the EFL Trophy match against Southampton Under-21s on October 18 after almost three months out.

But he suffered a setback which ruled him out of the Exiles’ match at Northampton last weekend and remains sidelined for the cup tie on Saturday.

Aaron Lewis, Sam Bowen, Hayden Lindley and Chanka Zimba are among a group of players who may be hoping to be given playing time by Newport boss Graham Coughlan, who has fielded the same starting XI in each of the last three League Two matches.

The first of those was a 1-0 win over Colchester on October 22, and United boss Matt Bloomfield has a number of players unavailable for the trip to south Wales.

Veteran Colchester midfielder Cole Skuse did not feature in the defeat at Barrow on Tuesday and is expected to miss out again.

Centre-back Tom Dallison was not risked at Barrow and is again a doubt.

Emyr Huws returned to training this week after a serious ankle injury but is not yet ready to feature.