Colchester United new boy Sean Murray has vowed to hit the ground running with his new club – and says he had no qualms about dropping into League Two.

Midfielder Murray has joined the U’s until the end of the 2017-18 season after arriving from League One strugglers Swindon Town.

The 23-year-old has more than 100 league and cup appearances under his belt, the bulk of which came at Watford where he started his career.

And the Republic of Ireland under-21 international says after featuring 23 times for Swindon this season, he is ready and raring to go for the U’s.

Murray told the Daily Gazette: “The good thing is that I can hit the ground running.

“I’ve had a good few games for Swindon this season and it’s not as if I’m coming in cold, so I’m hoping to go straight into it.

“I first heard of Colchester’s interest about a week or two ago.

“I had a chat with Swindon to see what their plans were for my future.

“Colchester were really keen and I spoke to Lloyd Doyley about what it’s like there.

“He had nothing but good things to say about the club – he could not speak highly enough about it and that was a strong factor for me.

“When I was at Swindon, we were fighting to stay in League One.

“I’ve dropped into League Two but in Colchester, I’ve joined a team who are pushing for promotion and when you look at it, there aren’t that many places between the two teams.

“There’s so much to play for at Colchester.

“I spoke to (U's head coach) John McGreal and he was very positive and very keen to get me on board, which made me feel good.

“Another factor was the way that Colchester play and they like to get the ball down and play, which I think will suit my game.”

Murray progressed through the Watford academy and played 85 times for the Hornets.

A total of 74 of his Watford appearances came in the Championship, after he broke into the first team at Vicarage Road in 2011.

Murray, who also played seven times for Wigan Athletic during their League One promotion season last year, left the Hornets to join Swindon last summer.

He played 23 times for the Robins this season but has now joined Colchester, where he will be hoping to play his part in their promotion push.

Murray added: “I’ve made more than 100 appearances in my career and that’s mainly down to playing a lot of games when I was younger.

“My opportunities dropped a little bit after that due to injuries and Watford getting promoted to the Premier League.

“But I’ve been playing at Swindon and I’m back at home in Hertfordshire now and travelling in every day from there, which I think helps.”