Cambridge United visit Grays Athletic this evening, aiming to bounce back from Saturday's 4-3 home defeat at the hands of Luton Town. That result ended an eight-game unbeaten run and Martin Ling's men will be seeking an early return to form at struggling Grays.

United have dropped down to ninth place, having taken 20 points from the first thirteen games, while Grays are second-from-bottom with seven points from their twelve games.

The bookies rate the U's as odds-on favourites at 19/20 with our online betting partners bet365, while the Blues are 12/5 and the draw is also 12/5. Click here for all the match odds.

Team News

After several games with a full squad to select from, Martin Ling has just one key doubt for tonight's match after player-assistant manager Paul Carden missed training on Monday with a sore hamstring. He will be assessed today, when the manager will decide on his starting line-up.

"We're looking for a reaction from the game on Saturday," stated Ling. "We've talked through where we thought we went wrong and what we could have done differently, and we've got to put that into action for tonight's game.

"When we talked about it after the game the players were disappointed and we feel like we threw it away, but I'm one of those managers who wants to talk about it but then put it to bed and look for a reaction from the players in the next game.

"We hardly have time to breathe between games at the moment and this one has come around quickly, so we're looking for a reaction to the disappointment," he added.

"We haven't had that much disappointment to deal with because the results have been good, but I think you find out things about your players when things aren't going so well and how you bounce back from a bad result."

The Other Side

Having experienced months of upheaval, with a revolving door of players and managers since last season, Grays are currently second-from-bottom and new boss Julian Dicks faces an uphill battle to get his recently-assembled squad to gel before they get further adrift at the wrong end of the table.

The Blues have only won once all season, at home to Eastbourne in their third game of the season, but Ling is wary of the influence of the new manager, remembered for his tough-tackling style as a left-back for West Ham and Liverpool.

"They've had a lot of change this season with a couple of different managers, but Julian Dicks is in there now and I think it will be a tough game if they show the same character as their manager when he was a player," he said.

"They would be the first to admit they haven't had the best of starts to the season, but we can't go there taking them lightly or we'll trip over ourselves. We have to make sure we're ready and up for the action."

The Grays squad includes a few familiar faces, with former U's defender Gavin Hoyte (above), midfielder Sam Cutler, and strikers Lee McEvilly and former West Ham loanee Jack Jeffery on their books, although McEvilly is sidelined with a shin injury.

More information

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