John McGreal is set to make changes to Colchester United’s starting line-up for their League Cup tie at Brighton and Hove Albion tonight.

The U’s head coach says he wants to give more of his players a chance to shine in their first-round clash, on their first-ever appearance at the Amex Stadium.

The likes of former Brighton youngster Doug Loft, Denny Johnstone and Frankie Kent, who were all on the bench for Colchester’s opening-day draw at Hartlepool United, will all be hoping for a chance to shine against Championship opposition – and boss McGreal says he is keen to give others an opportunity to impress.

McGreal said: “We’ll have to change it for Tuesday night.

“Throughout the pre-season games that we’ve had, we’ve mixed it up and we’ve nearly got two bodies for each position.

“We will make changes, because I think it’s only fair to the other boys.

“They need an opportunity to play and there’s no greater fixture than Brighton away.

“It’s a great game for us and we’ll go from one end of the country to the other end.

“There’s a lot of miles in a few days but it’s a great fixture for us.

“I’ve always given the boys an equal opportunity over pre-season and if you look back at the minutes that they played over the seven pre-season games, they’re more or less identical, apart from Tom Eastman and one or two others.

“It’s healthy competition and that’s what we want.”

For a full preview of Colchester United's tie with Brighton and Hove Albion tonight, see today's Daily Gazette.