Sean Murray admits it will not be easy to force his way back into Colchester United’s starting line-up following his injury lay-off.

The midfielder returned to first-team training with the U’s this week, having recovered from the knee surgery he underwent in October.

Murray has been forced to sit out Colchester’s last seven league and cup games, in which time they have pulled to within three points of the League Two play-off places.

The 24-year-old was in good form prior to his spell on the sidelines and is hoping to be named in the U’s squad to face fellow promotion hopefuls Exeter City tomorrow – but knows he will not waltz his way back into John McGreal’s side.

Murray said: “It’s been great watching the lads every week and they’ve been doing really well, so it’s good to come back into an environment where everyone’s happy.

“It will definitely be hard to get back into the team where everyone is doing so well, so it’s down to me to try and train well.

“I’m going to get my chance and I have to try and take it when it comes.

“Last season and for a bit of this season, I played a lot as a holding midfielder.

“But the formation is changing quite a lot – it’s good that I can play in different positions because it gives me a chance to try and get back into the team.

“Szmods (Sammie Szmodics) has come back and done brilliantly in the number ten position and scored a few goals and Tom (Lapslie) has got his place back in the team and done brilliantly over the last couple of games, as well.

“It’s going to be hard getting back into the side but I think that’s only a good thing for the manager, as there are players who can come into the team and perform.”

Murray says he has felt fresh this week after resuming training – and is confident he can now hit the ground running on his return.

“I think in general, I’m a player who runs a lot anyway so the fitness didn’t go too much,” said the former Watford midfielder.

“The training has been good and my GPS results have been good too, so it’s good news for me.

“It was a bit of a frustrating time to get injured.

“There are times when you don’t want to stop playing but it came to the point where I had to have surgery.

“It was when we played at Coventry where it concerned me the most.

“In most games before that it was hurting a bit afterwards but would go away straight away but after that game, it stayed and we had to get it scanned and then have the surgery.

“Luckily, we were on schedule with the recovery.

“We said four to six weeks and it’s probably about five to come back, so it’s credit to Tony (Flynn) and the team who have helped me.

“Hopefully I’m back now and can get back to that form quite quickly.”

Colchester lie seven points off tomorrow’s opponents Exeter in the table but Murray believes they can exploit any weaknesses the visitors have.

He added: “Exeter have conceded quite a few goals over the last couple of games, so that’s something for our midfielders and forwards to look at and hopefully we can create a few chances and put them away.

“If we can get six points from the next two games, we’ll be right up there in the play-offs and that’s the best incentive to have.

“Training is always lively – there were maybe some times at the start of the season where it wasn’t like that every day.

“But every day here, everyone’s happy and quite positive and even when we come off a loss against Notts County, they took a lot of positives from the game.”