Colchester United midfielder Harry Pell's weekly column

Injury blues

IT’S horrible not playing!

You train all week as a professional and to not have a match at the end of it is tough.

You want to be out there helping the boys but you have zero control on what’s happening.

Despite being ruled out with a hamstring injury, I travelled up to Macclesfield Town with the rest of the squad last weekend and I was on the edge of my seat while the game was going on!

Saying that, I saw the game from a totally different dynamic and I think that’s healthy sometimes.

When you’re in the stands, the game seems a lot slower compared to when you’re playing.

For any young player, it’s always good to watch different matches, at any level.

I’ve always been a firm believer of going out to different games and watching football.

When you’re out on the pitch, you’re so engrossed in doing your job over the course of 90 minutes.

I think a draw was a fair result in the end up at Macclesfield Town.

You have to give credit to them because we couldn’t get our game going at all in the first half.

They paid us due diligence and we couldn’t play our football.

In the first half we were disappointing and the pitch wasn’t great.

The scoreline didn’t make pretty reading for us at the break but we were better in the second half and the dynamics changed in our favour.

We spoke at half-time about improving and about needing something from someone and Courtney Senior provided it with his really good run that led to our penalty.

We felt that we were going to go on from there and get the winner but it didn’t come.

It was a hard game and the teams at the bottom of the table are scrapping for their lives – no player ever wants a relegation on their CV.

It was unfortunate to see Laps come off injured at Macclesfield but I thought Diaz Wright came on and did really well.

I think we have a bit of a score to settle this weekend, after our 4-0 defeat up at Carlisle United last December.

I think that was my worst performance in a Colchester shirt that day and it was a really disappointing display all round.

We’re taking it game by game at the moment and we’re just focusing on what we’re doing – we have to approach every match like that between now and the end of the season.

We have taken seven points from nine and we’re in good form, so we’re feeling confident.

Signings' singing

OUR new signings did their singing last weekend, as part of their initiation.

Abo Eisa did a nice little rap and Callum Roberts also did a good little number.

But Ben Stevenson didn’t have to do one as he had been with us before!

Some people don’t like doing it but I love watching it!

Pogba's form baffles me

LIVERPOOL’S Champions League game against Bayern Munich is finely balanced after the first leg.

But I think Jürgen Klopp’s side have given themselves every chance of progressing.

Liverpool certainly have lots of goals in their team and I think they’re going to score out there but Bayern are a very experienced team who are well drilled.

They certainly put a lot into their performance at Anfield.

Manchester United have a tough task in their second leg at Paris St Germain but they’re going great guns in the Premier League still.

What I can’t understand though is Paul Pogba’s form.

I just don’t get how he can be this good, just because the previous manager has now gone.

During my own career, I’ve played under some managers who I didn’t always see eye to eye with but as a professional at any level of the game, there shouldn’t be any player thinking he’s bigger than the football club.

I can’t understand how Pogba can look at himself in the mirror now, knowing how he had under-performed.

Blues should stick with Sarri

MAURIZIO Sarri has come in for a lot of stick after Chelsea’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, on Monday night.

But as a Chelsea fan, I think they have to back him and stick by him.

He’s a good manager and I don’t think it’s good to have the constant merry-go-round of managers they’ve had.

He’s not got all of the players he’d like and that is crucial, as he has a certain philosophy and way of playing.

It’s been all over Sky Sports News about Zinedine Zidane and Frank Lampard being linked and I don’t think that’s great for Sarri.

I think the club need to come out and back him.

Azza's ace

I’M so pleased that my former team-mate Aaron Collins has hit the ground running with Morecambe.

He scored their winner for the second successive game after they won 2-1 at Oldham Athletic, on Tuesday night.

It’s good to see that Azza's getting some game time – his contract was terminated at Wolves last month, which is a big thing in his life.

So for him to hit form so well after that says a lot about him and who he is as a person.