Jabo Ibehre will be allowed to leave Colchester United - either permanently or on loan.

The powerful striker has returned to the U’s this week, following the completion of his three-month loan spell at Oldham Athletic.

Ibehre told Colchester that he wanted to quit the club upon Tony Humes’ appointment as manager, last September.

And the former MK Dons forward, who has not trained with the U’s squad this week because of a minor injury, looks likely to move on to pastures new.

U’s boss Tony Humes said: “Jabo’s come back but he hasn’t been able to train because of a slight injury.

“The same sort of thoughts are in place with Jabo - if he can go out on loan or get another club, that’s what we’ll look at.

“We were looking originally at Oldham having a potential deal, either keeping him on loan until the end of the season or taking over his contract.

“But that hasn’t happened, so we just have to get on with it.

“It’s the same as anybody else - as long as he’s a Colchester United player, if we need him we need him and we’d expect him to play.

“But as he said he wants to find another club, we have to keep that in mind.

“And we have other options, which we’ll consider first and foremost.”

Ibehre, who joined Colchester from MK Dons in September 2012, initially on loan, has scored 17 goals in 76 appearances for the club.

The 31-year-old made 12 appearances for Oldham during his spell at Boundary Park, scoring twice.