We spoke to Mark Hughes ahead of our clash with Gillingham.
On the time he’s had with the squad since Colchester, Mark said: “It's been very good. I've enjoyed it. Obviously, it was very hectic the first week, so it was difficult to get any real worthwhile work in terms of continuity and continuity of messaging that we knew that we needed to get across to the guys as quickly as possible.
“But I have to say they're very receptive, they've been very open-minded in terms of what we're telling them and trying to work on the things that we were asking of them. I've been really pleased with the application and how they've equipped themselves, given all the different messaging.”
United hosted a 60 minute in-house game on Tuesday, Mark touched on that, saying: "That was important.
“A lot of the guys haven’t had a great deal of football, which is a little bit of concern in fairness. We're just trying to get guys up to speed. Some haven't had games because of injury, some have arrived at the club in recent weeks and haven't played a great deal prior to that.
“So there's a lot in terms of players that are not quite where they need to be to start and finish games. We can use them obviously for short periods, but it's gauging who we can do that with and in terms of what minutes that we can give each individual player. So we're not in a situation where everybody's up to speed, but that will improve in the next couple of weeks, hopefully.”
Archie Davies and Callum Guy both played the full hour on Tuesday, we asked Mark if they were in contention for Saturday, he responded: “In contention, but it's obviously the point I just made. It's about not exposing them really to too much too soon and there's a danger of doing that. So we're conscious of not throwing them in at the deep end, but we're conscious of the situation we found ourselves in.
“We'll give them the best opportunity to be productive for us from now to the end of the season, but that might initially entail us just managing their workload and their minutes.”
Mark then began an update on the squad in general and any other injuries, stating: "We had a little bit of illness obviously at the weekend, but that seems to have gone away so we're pleased with that.
“We didn't want anybody else falling foul of that, so it seems to have gone away. So pretty much where we need to be or expected to be at this point.”
On Charlie Wyke, Jordan Jones and Georgie Kelly, Mark said: "They're working hard.
“They're with the physios, not back with the group yet, but yeah, we have to just be patient. As I said with the other guys, you can't give them too much too soon because that just puts them at risk. So we'll push them forward when we feel we can or when we're told we can and then hopefully we can sustain them and make sure that they don't break down again.
“That's the key. There's no point bringing them back short-term and then they break down and they're not a help to us. So when we do bring players back, we expect them to obviously be available for selection.
“We expect them to be available from when they are back in the squad to the end of the year.”
On Josh Williams, Mark said: "As we thought, it's not great news. It's quite a significant injury.
"We'll work him as quickly as we can, but yeah, it's a bad one. We thought initially we might be able to get away with it, but it's quite significant.”
On Gillingham, who’ve been on a very tough run, Mark said: "It's a home game. That's how we're viewing it.
“I thought we did really well against Colchester. All the teams we've played really have been teams that are currently in good runs of form.
“I think we all feel we could have picked up more points than we actually did. Obviously, the point was very welcome against Colchester. I thought we deserved more on the day, but it could have gone the other way as well.
“So we'll take what we did and what we can from that game. But it's another home game. We've had another week's work, so I think we'll be better again.
“So we need to convert. Draws are okay, but given the situation we're in, they don't move you up the table. So we've got to start winning soon.
“They've got an experienced manager as well. He knows the league very, very well. Many years at this level and above.
“He'll get them organised and they'll play in the way that he wants them to because he'll be good at getting his message across. So I've got a lot of respect for him at this level. So we've just got to be more concerned about what we're doing.
“And I think if we execute what we've talked about and we're accurate in everything that we do, then the technical players that we've got are very good. I've been really impressed with that aspect of our play. It's not just about that.
“We've got to have that physicality that you have to show in League Two football as well. And it's about getting that balance right. Can we play when we're allowed to and can we withstand the challenges and be resilient when we need to as well?”
On being back in front of the fans again, Mark said: “I really enjoy myself. You've probably understood that by my reactions after the game. That's what I miss when I'm out of the game is that 90 minutes on a Saturday.
“So, more to come. Looking forward to it again. I thought the fans were great.
"Great reaction at the end, even though we hadn't won. We still had a great reaction and the players noted that and really enjoyed it.”
