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The fixture, moved to a Friday due to the Merseyside Derby on Saturday, is one of only a few Friday night matches for Tranmere this season, and they will be hoping, as ever, to get the Kop behind them, get Prenton Park rocking and put three points on the board before the rest of the League One fixtures on Saturday.
Colchester United team profile:
Formed: 1937
Ground: The Cuckoo's Nest
Manager: Kit Symons (Caretaker Manager)
Nickname: The U's
Season Finish 2006/07: 24th (Coca-Cola Championship)
Previous Meetings:
A two-year flirtation with the Coca-Cola Championship for Colchester United has resulted in these two teams not meeting since the 2005/06 season, the year in which The U's earned promotion from League One and in which Tranmere were much closer to relegation from the division than they would have liked to have been.
When the clubs last met at Prenton Park, both sides put in a dreadful performance to mark a dreadful game that ended 0-0, a game that extended Tranmere's run of games without a win in the league to nine.
The game at Layer Road on Easter Monday later in the season was somewhat more interesting though, with plenty of incident to make up for the drab affair at Prenton Park earlier on.
Tranmere were the first team to get the ball in the back of the net, as Chris Greenacre vollied home Delroy Facey's miss-directed shot. However, the goal was ruled out for offside and the score remained 0-0.
Soon after though, Rovers were reduced to ten men, as on-loan Luton Town midfielder Stephen O'Leary was controversially sent off for a 50/50 tackle on a Colchester player.
From then on, it was all Colchester as the U's looked for three valuable points in the promotion race against lowly Tranmere.
It wasn't until after half-time the Colchester got their goal though, as McAteer had gave away a stupid free-kick near the edge of the Tranmere box, and from a well-worked training ground move, Brown curled the ball into the top corner to hand Colchester the win.
Vital Stats:
Tranmere's last six home matches against Colchester have all ended as draws
In twenty-three home matches against The U's, Tranmere have picked up ten wins and eight draws
In seven previous Friday night home matches against Colchester, Tranmere have won four times, although they have failed to win a Friday night home fixture against The U's since September 1977
These two teams have played sixteen Friday night fixtures against each other
Tranmere have won seven out of twelve Friday night home matches since Ronnie Moore returned to the club
On This Day:
2006: Despite going 2-0 up against Huddersfield Town, Tranmere only manage a 2-2 draw against the Terriers at Prenton Park
2000: In their relegation season, John Aldridge's Tranmere beat Swindon Town 1-0 at the County Ground
1931: Tranmere hand out a drubbing to Accrington Stanley, beating the Lancashire club 8-1
Tranmere have played thirteen previous games on September 26th, picking up seven wins, four draws and just two defeats. They have scored twenty-seven goals and conceded just sixteen.
The Form Book:
Tranmere last 6 matches: DWLWWL
Colchester last 6 matches: LLDWLW
Following relegation from the Championship, Colchester have had a bitterly dissapointing start to the 2008/09 season, which has culminated in the departure of Geraint Williams this week, the man who had been manager at Colchester for two seasons.
Expectations were high in Essex ahead of the new season, with Colchester moving to their new stadium, the Cuckoo's Nest, and fans expecting the U's to mount some sort of promotion battle. As of yet though, they are yet to even win at their new home.
The U's started the season on the road at Hartlepool United and put in a poor display as they lost 4-2, only grabbing two late goals after Hartlepool had gone 4-0 up, before an early Matt Heath goal was enough to secure Colchester a 1-0 win in the League Cup first round against Gillingham.
Next, in their first home game at their new home, Colchester drew 0-0 with Huddersfield, another team so far struggling this season, before they travelled to the County Ground and beat Swindon Town 3-1, their only league win of the season.
Colchester were knocked out of the League Cup at the second round stage in their next match, losing 2-1 to Ipswich Town at Portman Road, before drawing 2-2 with Oldham Athletic.
In the first round of the Johnstone's Paints Trophy, The U's beat Millwall 1-0 courtesy of a strike from former Rochdale midfielder Perkins, before they suffered consecutive defeats in the league, firstly losing 2-0 at Crewe before being hammered 3-0 at home to MK Dons.
Colchester lie in a lowly twenty-third place in the League One table ahead of this game, having picked up just five points from their opening six league games. They have picked up three of an available nine points from their opening three away league games.
After picking up four points from their last two games, both away from home, Tranmere are starting to look somewhat better after a dissapointing start to the 2008/09 season.
Rovers started the season on the road, and put in a drab display as they lost 3-1 at the County Ground against Swindon Town, with Bas Savage only grabbing a late concelation goal for Tranmere.
A few days later, Rovers were at Grimsby for their first round League Cup tie, and put in a much better performance but came away empty handed after a 2-0 defeat, with shooting letting Tranmere down on the night.
Tranmere then picked up their first win of the season at home to Hartlepool, beating the Monkey Hangers 1-0 before losing 3-1 at Leicester City despite putting in another decent display.
Since then though, Tranmere have lost just one in five, a record that they will be looking to build on this Friday.
Firstly, they came from 1-0 down to hammer Northampton Town 4-1, with Savage, Kay, Curran and Moore getting on the score sheet for Tranmere, before Eddie Sonko scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley in the Johnstone's Paints Trophy.
Reuben Hazell, a Tranmere old boy, then scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Oldham at Prenton Park a few days later, but since Tranmere have played two away games and firstly beaten Huddersfield Town 2-1, thanks to goals from Sonko and Shotton, before going 2-0 up against Peterborough at London Road last weekend, only to draw 2-2.
Coming into this game, Tranmere lie eleventh in the League One table, having picked up ten points from their opening seven league games. They have picked up six points from an available nine in their three home games.
Double Hit:
Due to Colchester United having been a non-League team for a large portion of their history, it has been very difficult to find a player who has represented both The U's and Tranmere Rovers.
One such player is Centre Forward Brian Westlake who represented Tranmere during the 1960s, playing for Rovers for just a handful of months in the 1966/67 season.
Westlake joined Tranmere from Halifax Town and after scoring three goals in sixteen games for Rovers, with all of the goals coming in his fourteen league outings, he left Tranmere for Colchester United.
One of the other few players to have represented both clubs is goalkeeper Alec Chamerlain, who retired from the game at the end of the 2006/07 season.
The six foot plus goalkeeper started his career with Ramsy Town before moving on to Ipswich and after failing to break into the first team at ortman Road, he moved on to Colchester United on a free transfer.
Chamberlain stayed with the U's for five seasons, making 221 appearances for the club before signing for Everton for a fee of £80,000.
However, he failed to ever make an appearance for the Toffee's, and was soon sent out on loan to Tranmere Rovers during the 1987/88 season. The goalkeeper made his debut against Hartlepool, his first of fifteen games for the club, before he was sold by Everton to Luton in 1988 for £150,000.
Making over 150 appearances for Luton, Chamberlain then had spells with Chelsea (loan) and Sunderland before joining Watford for £400,000 in 1996.
He stayed with The Hornets for eleven years, making 294 appearances for the club before retiring in 2007, aged 43, making his final appearance for Watford on the final day of the 2006/07 season against Newcastle United.
In total, over his 26-year career in the Football League, the popular and talented Chamberlain made 791 appearances.
One To Watch: Kemmy Izzet
Colchester midfielder Kemmy Izzet is the brother of former Leicester midfielder Muzzy, who unfortunately had to end his career early due to injury.
Although not playing at as high a level as his brother, Kemmy is still a very good player who has held his own in both League One and the Championship.
Starting his career at Charlton Athletic, the midfielder failed to make an appearance for the London club, and after a very brief loan spell with Colchester, he signed permanently for the club on April 13th 2001.
Over seven years later, Izzet is still at the club and is a firm fans favourite at the Cuckoo's Nest. He has now made an impressive 295 appearances for the club, including all but one of their games so far this season.
Scoring twenty goals for the club in his time there, Izzet is more a ball-winning midfielder than a goalscoring one, although he will still pop up with the odd and often important goal.
With a great engine in midfield, Izzet is often the key to how Colchester play, breaking up plenty of attacks in midfield and starting Colchester's own offensive moves. Now aged 27, Izzet wears the number ten shirt for Colchester.
Around League One:
Tranmere's game against Colchester is not the only Friday night fixture in League One this week, with Colchester's bitter rivals Southend United also playing, as they host Leyton Orient at Roots Hall. A win for either team would move them above Tranmere, should Rovers fail to beat Colchester.
On Saturday, the big game of the day is at Boundary Park, where table topping Oldham Athletic, who have dropped just four points this season, take on Huddersfield Town in a Penines derby match.
Second placed Scunthorpe United, two points behind Oldham, host Yeovil Town, whilst Tranmere's next opponents, Carlisle United, who lost at home for the first time this season last weekend against Leeds, travel to Walsall, who beat Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 last weekend, despite having only nine men.
Third placed Leeds host bottom club Hereford United whilst two of the promoted clubs meet at Stadium: MK where MK Dons take on Peterborough United.
The other team in the play-offs, Leicester, are at home to Hartlepool who have had a decent start to the season, whilst at the other end of the table, Crewe, in twenty-first place, are away to Bristol Rovers who are only just above the drop zone.
Team News:
With Gareth Edds and Godwin Antwi returning to full fitness in the past seven or eight days, both are available for selection again, meaning Ronnie Moore should have a full squad to choose from for this fixture.
Jones' Prediction: Tranmere 4-1 Colchester
Colchester United are currently a club in big trouble. They were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion but currently find themselves languishing in the relegation zone, whilst manager Geraint Williams left the club earlier this week. Ronnie Moore's side then should be looking at this game as one that they can win and win heavily in an attempt to boost their goal difference.
Two goals for Chris Greenacre last weekend meant that all four of Tranmere's first team strikers have scored this season and this is certainly a good sign for the Super Whites. The strikers have been linking up well and look full of confidence and with the service beginning to come from midfield, more goals will be scored, especially by Greenacre.
Goals then are beginning to come, but it is the defence that has been the problem in recent weeks. Again, Tranmere's inability to defend set-pieces cost them two points last weekend, whilst it could be argued that they should have kept clean sheets in all of their last three games.
If Tranmere tighten up their defence, they will be one of the strongest teams in the league, and that is not to say that the defence is poor, simply that silly mistakes have been made up to this point in the season.
Rovers though should have too much for the U's, especially going forward, where their pace and trickery makes them a very strong unit. If the midfield pulls together, then Colchester should be over run and Tranmere should pick up a comfortable win.
Friday nights are something special at Prenton Park and Tranmere will be hoping that they can continue this tradition this week and if the Kop is in full voice, then three points shouldn't be too far away for the Wirral side.