MATHIEU Baudry would love nothing more than to win a trophy for his great friend Dion Conroy, who is unlikely to play again this season after picking up a knee injury.

Town’s French defender formed a formidable partnership with Conroy in the early parts of the season before injuries to both men decimated Richie Wellens’ defensive core.

Baudry picked up a knock to his ankle when Colchester visited SN1 in mid-September while Conroy was left needing surgery after a 50-50 lunge for the ball with Newport County captain Joss Labadie ended nastily.

Both men started in all nine of Town’s opening League Two fixtures – a points-per-game ratio of 1.88 resulted.

But wins have been hard to come by since Colchester’s visit – the last time Baudry and Conroy played together – with Town registering only four points from as many games.

Couple the above results with Town’s woeful three-goal Leasing.com Trophy loss to Plymouth Argyle and you have yourself a defence understandably lacking in confidence.

It was Luke McCormick’s lack of confidence that forced Wellens to pick Steven Benda on Saturday as Plymouth Argyle left the County Ground with a point following a 1-1 draw.

But Baudry has now called on his defensive teammates to pull together and win a trophy for the strickened Conroy.

He said: “He (Dion Conroy) is one of the most talented centre halves I’ve played with, so I’m not worried about his future.

“I said to him we’re going to keep going as a team and win a trophy at the end for him.

“I’ve had a lot of injuries myself, I know how he feels – especially now at the start of his recovery.

“When you start your rehab, you deal with it. But we’re all here for him and he is a great player.

“Everyone around will have to step up to fill his void.”

Town’s defence has understandably been hurt as a direct result of multiple injuries this season.

Wellens’ defensive options appeared to represent his squad’s strongest area prior to Town’s first game of the season at Scunthorpe.

The manager’s decision to draft in free agents Gabriel Zakuani and Dion Donohue in the last week has stabilised the club’s injury crisis.

But Baudry can’t hide the fact that working with new players on a weekly basis can provide its challenges.

He added: “At the start of the season, we had a back four that played most games.

“You get to know each other, and I had a great partnership and understanding with Dion (Conroy).

“When someone new comes in, it takes a bit of time to get to know that player’s strengths and weaknesses. A lot of talking makes things easier, and I think we’ll grow as the games go on.”