ELLIOT Lee says his loan spell at Colchester United was the most enjoyable of his career so far.

Lee, who is out of contract this summer, is now set for talks with parent club West Ham United after a productive three and a half months with the U’s.

The 21-year-old says he is disappointed that his second loan spell at Colchester ended in them being relegated to League Two.

But Lee says he feels he progressed as a player during his time at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Lee told the Daily Gazette: “I’ve been at a few clubs on loan and I can honestly say that this spell at Colchester was the most enjoyable that I’ve had.

“It’s a real shame to be going down but if someone had offered me the chance to have played in a team higher up the league but playing a less attractive style of football, I wouldn’t have taken it.

“It was my decision to join Colchester on loan – I had a bit of a point to prove after my last loan spell there and I wanted to enjoy playing football again.

“I felt that I could do that under Kevin Keen and with the lads and that’s what happened.

“It’s a credit to the lads that I played with – I’m best mates with George Moncur and Alex Gilbey and I think that showed on the pitch.

“I’ve learnt a lot this season – I know that I want to enjoy my football wherever I go and I think that showed in my performances on the pitch.”

Colchester are now planning for life in League Two but Lee feels they should have stayed up.

“I don’t think we deserved to be relegated,” said Lee, who played 15 games for Colchester during his loan spell, scoring twice.

“If you ask any of the lads, we had a number of opposition players coming up to us after games saying how they couldn’t believe we were in the bottom four.

“Going forward, we were a real threat and it’s frustrating to say the least that we went down.

“If we’d kept teams out more than we’d have finished a lot higher in the table.

“Sometimes it didn’t go for us and it’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling but I thoroughly enjoyed playing in that team.”

Lee, whose father Rob Lee made 16 appearances for West Ham, was at the Hammers’ final-ever game at the Boleyn Ground last night, prior to their summer move to the Olympic Stadium.

He added: “I watched my dad play there and I’ve played there in the Premier League, so I’ve got some happy memories of the ground.

“It’ll be sad to see it go but it’s bittersweet, because moving to the Olympic Stadium is a great move for the club.”