Colchester's Taylor to miss rest of season

Lyle Taylor joined Colchester last summer following a brief spell at Cambridge United

Colchester United top scorer Lyle Taylor will miss the remainder of the season because of a calf injury.

The 35-year-old former Nottingham Forest forward went off after only 12 minutes of last Saturday's 2-0 win at Newport County.

He has scored 13 goals in 40 appearances this term for the U's, who are one point outside the play-off places with four games to play.

"The good news is that it's not career threatening which we were nervous about at first because he's been struggling with tendonitis in an Achilles and we assumed he'd snapped it because he's had pain in that area," boss Danny Cowley told BBC Essex Sport.

"But it's actually quite a severe calf strain, it's a 3C which is about as bad as you can do it, it's about a 15cm tear. It means his season's over unfortunately but it's probably a 12-week injury.

"On Saturday night, all of us thought it might be the end for Lyle because if you snap your Achilles at 35 it's not easy to come back from, but this one he'll definitely be able to.

"And while he won't be able to help us on the pitch, I know he will continue to help the group off the pitch."

Montserrat international Taylor, whose previous clubs also include Sheffield United, Bournemouth and AFC Wimbledon, agreed a contract with Colchester last summer following a four-month spell at Cambridge United in 2023-24.

"I worked with him as an 18-year-old and it's been great to spend a season with him now as a 34, now 35 year old," said Cowley.

"He's got a big personality, some would say a big ego, but the biggest thing about him is his heart. He cares and has been a really positive influence on everybody around him.

"He's got us this far and the group, I think, are now ready to push on."

Colchester, who have won their last two games and are unbeaten in three, are at home to Crewe Alexandra on Friday, followed by trips to Doncaster Rovers and Salford City.

Their regular season campaign concludes at their own Community Stadium on 3 May when Barrow will be the visitors.

Cowley said that Taylor was "hurting" because he wanted to "finish the job".

But he added: "It's one of the challenges. In recent games, we've been without Jack Payne, we've had no Teddy Bishop, we've lost key players all the way through the process, and the boys have shown a huge amount of resilience and a team ethic to find a way.

"We're going to have to do the same again."