Teenager Drey Wright has earned praise from his manager after making his senior Colchester United debut last night.

The pacy youngster started for the U’s for the first time, in their 3-0 Capital One Cup first round defeat at Yeovil Town.

Wright played for nearly an hour of the tie at Huish Park, having been drafted in at late notice following Freddie Sears’ withdrawal from the squad.

And Colchester boss John Ward was pleased with the way that the young winger acquitted himself, on what was otherwise a miserable night for the U’s.

Ward said: “Drey was only 17 in April and it was a tough evening for him.

“It was pushed on us a little bit, with Freddie Sears not being around the club at the moment.

“The young man did well and he’ll remember his debut.

“We’ll have to look after him but there’s a lot of promise.

“I have to make sure that Drey and Alex Gilbey have a career, not just the next six months at it.

“We have to give them every platform that we can and sometimes that’ll mean we don’t involve them in the games.

“We have to look after them and I’ll do that.”

Ward added that he is unsure as to whether Sears will be available for the U’s trip to Preston North End on Saturday.

He added: “Freddie has got a family situation that he’s got to look after.

“I can’t say if he’ll be available for Saturday yet.

“We’ll see how he’s been and what the situation is.”

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