Colchester United manager Joe Dunne has played down his nomination for the League One manager of the month award for January.

The U’s boss is in the running to win the accolade, after securing his side seven points out of nine last month.

It has led Dunne to be nominated for the award, along with Brentford manager Mark Warburton, Russell Slade of Leyton Orient and Walsall boss Dean Smith.

However, the Irishman said the recognition is testament to the effort of his players, who helped Colchester into a place in the top half of the table before recent postponements.

Dunne said: “The nomination is a credit to the players for their efforts in January.

“Irrespective of the games being called off, we’ve still had some positive results.

“Now we’re going into two months which are going to be quite different.

“We have a lot of difficult games coming up and with the fixture congestion, the main aim is to keep everyone fit.”

Dunne is hoping to take a training session at Florence Park tomorrow morning, having seen their time there restricted over recent weeks because of the rain.

The U’s were able to train on one of the pitches at their Tiptree complex on Tuesday and are hoping to do the same tomorrow.

Dunne is preparing his squad for their home game against Rotherham United, this weekend.

Colchester have not played since beating Carlisle United 4-2 at Brunton Park, on January 18.

Dunne said: “They’re ready for a game - we don’t want to go any longer without one.

“Rotherham are really cemented in the play-off positions and I’m sure that they’ll be wanting to challenge the top two.”

For all of the latest Colchester United news, see the Daily Gazette.