Ian Henderson, Tom Bender and Michael Rose have all left Colchester United after having their contracts cancelled by mutual consent.

The club announced Bender's departure before the January transfer window shut last night, but have now confirmed that Henderson and Rose had also been allowed to leave ahead of the 11pm deadline.

The moves mean all three are now free to find other clubs before the end of the season.

Henderson had been at the U's for three years after being brought in from Turkish club Ankaragucu by boss Aidy Boothroyd during his time at Colchester.

He went on to play 130 times for the U's, scoring 26 goals.


Rose was a Colchester signing for Boothroyd's successor, John Ward, and arrived on a free transfer from Swindon Town in May 2011.

Welsh Under-21 international Bender is a product of the U's youth system and made his senior debut under Boothroyd as a late substitute against Hartlepool in September 2009.

In doing so, he became the second youngest player to ever pull on a Colchester shirt in the club's history.

However, he has made only one further appearance for Colchester - against Wycombe in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy - since then and has spent loan spells at Accrington Stanley and Chelmsford City during the last two seasons.