The assured debut of young Frankie Kent may have handed Colchester United manager Joe Dunne some invaluable extra spending power.

Despite the team's 2-1 League One defeat at Bristol City, Kent made an impressive full senior debut at the heart of the U's defence with fellow centre-halves Magnus Okuonghae suspended and Josh Thompson injured.

The 18-year-old former U's youth teamer looked perfectly at home at the higher level and it means Dunne won't now have to go looking for a loan player to bolster his defensive options.

He said: "What it does for me as a manager is that it saves me some loan money.

"I have one loan signing I could possibly make as there's a small amount of money for it.

"But I now know that Frankie can do it.

"So I don't need to go chasing and looking other places."

See today's Gazette for the full version of this story and full reaction to Saturday's action