Colchester will again be without Clive Platt when Gillingham head to the Community Stadium.

The big striker is in the middle of a three-match ban following his red card in the Carling Cup defeat by Leyton Orient last week.

Scott Vernon, who was linked with a move away from Colchester over the summer, stepped in against Yeovil on Saturday and will partner Kevin Lisbie once more.

Fellow frontman Steven Gillespie is still sidelined by his ongoing hamstring problems, and defender Paul Reid misses out once again as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

But boss Paul Lambert has no new injury worries as he looks to maintain his side`s fine start to the season which sees them sitting on top of the League One table after two wins from two games.