Baldwin made his Colchester debut in 2002

Colchester defender Pat Baldwin is close to being available for first-team selection following an ankle injury.

The centre-back has been sidelined with the problem since September's League One draw at Southampton.

Colchester manager John Ward told BBC Essex: "He's recovering well, he's back running again now.

"We've got him back on the training pitch - he hasn't been involved in football with the rest of the squad, but hopefully that'll come this week."

Baldwin, who is one of the U's longest-serving players, has made six appearances this season.

Meanwhile, Ward will assess a knee injury picked up by Andrew Bond in Saturday's draw at Oldham Athletic.

Bond, who has netted four goals since joining from Barrow in the summer, was taken off at half time.

"It's a twist of some sort, we won't get the full test on that until early this week," Ward added.

"It looks like he's going to miss a bit of time."

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