Colchester United head coach John McGreal is expecting his team selection to give him plenty of headaches, this season.

The U’s were robbed of the services of a host of key players in the final third of their last campaign, with the likes of Kurtis Guthrie, Brennan Dickenson and Craig Slater all sidelined for the run-in.

Despite their injury woes, Colchester still ended on the back of a six-match unbeaten run and finished eighth in League Two, missing out on the play-offs by just a point.

And with Dickenson the only definite absentee when the U’s report back for pre-season training next week, boss McGreal is expecting to have some major decisions to make ahead of the big kick-off on August 5.

McGreal said: “We had a ton of injuries last season but Brennan Dickenson will be the only one of those who won’t be available at the start of next season.

“The likes of Craig Slater, Kurtis Guthrie, Frankie Kent, Sammie Szmodics and Luke Prosser were all huge players for us last season who got injured, last season.

“They’ll all be back and it’ll certainly give us a few headaches!

“There’s some outstanding talent there and we’re hoping they’ll all be back on the first day of pre-season, which is fantastic.

“It’s not as if we have to go out and replace them – it’s different to last summer where we lost big players like Alex Gilbey, George Moncur, Joe Edwards and Gavin Massey.

“They’re already there and they’re under contract for us, which is great for us.”

Colchester are yet to confirm whether their nine out-of-contract players will remain at the club.

George Elokobi, Tom Eastman, Lewis Kinsella, Richard Brindley, Drey Wright, Dean Brill, Kane Vincent-Young, Diaz Wright and Charley Edge have all been offered new deals.

Meanwhile, McGreal says it is a positive thing that former U’s forward Gavin Massey has been linked with a return to the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Massey looks set to leave Orient following their relegation to the National League, with League One sides Wigan, Portsmouth and Bradford City all linked with his signature.

McGreal added: “I don’t want to comment on any speculation but Gavin Massey was a terrific player for Colchester during his time at the club.

“I’ve seen him linked with a number of clubs in the league above so for him to be linked with us too shows that we’re trying to do the right things.”

Massey made 178 league and cup appearances during his three-and-a-half year spell with the U’s before leaving them last summer to join the O’s.