Swindon failed to to come from behind to beat Colchester with Sammie Szmodics scoring on the cusp of half-time to seal victory for the U's.

On the teamsheet, Swindon made one change to the side that beat Notts County, with Michael Doughty missing out through injury. Joe Romanski came in at left-back with Matt Taylor moving further forward.

However, Marc Richards pulled up in the warm-up so Elijah Adebayo came into the XI.

First Half

In truth, the half passed predominantly without too much note – the game was played at a very fast tempo but it took until the 26^th minute for either side to muster anything up.

Luke Norris rose high onto an inswinging cross but Sid Nelson was equal to the jump and deflected the former Swindon striker’s header wide.

Jermaine McGlashan was the first to carve something for the visitors. He won the ball in the air at the back post and shot on the spin but Rene Gilartin was right behind the strike.

And then in a two minutes of events Town found themselves behind. Norris was stretchered off after going down with no one around him before the U’s broke the deadlock straight after. Sammie Szmodics tucked the ball past Vigouroux, who had no chance, to put the home side one up.

Second Half

After the break, one common denominator remained – a lack of clear-cut chances for either side. Colchester were content to sit and frustrate Town for the majority of the half with their outlet ball of Frank Nouble, proving effective.

Olly Lancashire was forced through injury following collision in the Colchester penalty area before McCourt made way for Alzate a minute later and Keshi Anderson came into the fray for Joe Romanski on the hour mark.

Lawrence Vigouroux had to be alert to parry a deflected Kane Vincent-Young effort away from goal before Town began to find some rhythm.

Martin Smith played a neat one-two with Keshi Anderson and found himself one-on-one with Gilmarten but the U’s keeper guessed right and pulled off an excellent save.

Two minutes later, Town went close again – Smith worked the ball from deep into Anderson, to Alzate. The substitute cut back to Anderson who side-footed inches wide of the goal.

Colchester managed to work the clock down well and Town left Essex empty-handed.