JOHN Coventry fears tomorrow’s pre-season friendly with Colchester United has come too soon for his East Thurrock United side.

Rocks have been involved in only one encounter so far this summer, with that coming in the form of a 1-0 defeat to Romford in midweek.

And, with the U’s having already enjoyed plenty of workouts since returning for pre-season, Coventry believes the League Two side will be in better shape than his new-look side at Rookery Hill this weekend.

The East Thurrock chief said: “This is a couple of games too early for us because they will be young, enthusiastic and ahead of us in terms of fitness.

“We have only had one pre-season friendly so far, whereas they have has a few more than that.

“It will be a good test for us, but it would probably have been better for us if this game was taking place in a couple of weeks.”

Rocks and Colchester enjoyed contrasting seasons last term.

While East Thurrock suffered relegation to the Isthmian Premier League following a three-year stay in the National League South, John McGreal’s Colchester finished just outside of the League Two play-off places.

Coventry reacted to facing the drop by allowing a number of players to leave Rookery Hill.

However, he has attracted a number of familiar faces to Rocks, with the likes of Mitch Gilbey, Lewis Smith and Jason Ring returning to the club for another spell.

One of the players to remain with East Thurrock is Lee Burns.

The defender played a key role as Rocks won the Essex Senior Cup for the first time in the club’s 50-year history.

But Burns is likely to miss out on tomorrow’s clash after picking up an injury against Romford.

“Lee picked up a groin problem in the first five minutes,” added Coventry.

“We don’t know how serious the injury is at the moment and we will wait for it to settle down.

“Lee had been training with us all week, but training and matches are two totally different things.

“In training, you are told when to run and what to do in sessions.

“But, on the pitch, you have short running bursts and things like that.

“Those moments can take their toll, particularly at the start of pre-season.”