They enjoyed plenty of tussles as players.

And now Richard Hall is preparing to get the better of Dean Saunders again - only this time in the technical area.

The pair regularly locked swords in their playing days, when Hall was a centre-back at Southampton and Saunders was turning out for the likes of Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Hall, assistant manager at Colchester United, acknowledges that Saunders was a difficult opponent to play against.

And he recognises that the Welshman will pick a Crawley Town side to face the U’s tomorrow that will be as desperate to win as their hosts.

Hall said: “I played against Dean several times and he was a real handful, just because of his movement.

“His work-rate was outstanding and his goal ratio was very good.

“He’s done quite well in his managerial career and he’s trying to build a team that will survive in this division, as we are.

“Crawley away was probably one of our best performances this season and we hit the post three or four times and dominated possession.

“It was a tremendous performance but they’ve changed nine of their players, compared to the team that we played against on December 28.

“They’re a lot more physical and a big team and they’ll cause us problems with their size and power.

“We’ve had Crawley looked at and we understand the way they play.”

Colchester head into their game against Crawley looking to end a run of three straight defeats.

More importantly, they are desperate for points in their battle against relegation from League One.

The U’s head into the game level on points with their visitors, with both sides three points adrift of safety with 11 games to go.

“We just have to be a bit more clinical in both boxes,” admitted Hall, who took training yesterday with boss Tony Humes unable to attend because of illness.

“I look at certain goals that we’ve conceded which have been very preventable.

“Every goal you concede is preventable but I also think there’s been opportunities to wrap up games aswell.”

It promises to be a pivotal day at the bottom of League One, tomorrow.

The result between Colchester and Crawley will go some way to determining the respective clubs’ fate, this season.

And two other bottom-four sides - Leyton Orient and Yeovil Town - also go head to head at Brisbane Road.

“It could be four from five or four from six, it could even drag another one in," added Hall.

“We have to make sure that we’re not one of them.”