Tony Humes admits his role as Colchester United manager will come under even greater scrutiny next season.

But the U’s boss insists he is looking forward to the challenge of leading the team, in his first full season in charge.

After taking over from Joe Dunne last September, Humes has experienced an eventful first nine months in charge at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

The U’s former academy manager successfully blooded a number of young players such as Tom Lapslie and Sammie Szmodics and brought in several permanent and loan signings like David Fox, Chris Porter, Bongani Khumalo.

He also showed he is not afraid to wield the axe and dropped several established first-teamers such as Sean Clohessy, Sanchez Watt and Ben Gordon.

Colchester used a staggering total of 43 first-team players this season, a number Humes acknowledges is too much.

But the U’s enjoyed a strong finish and dramatically preserved their League One status on the final day of the season, with a 1-0 win over Preston North End.

Humes has already begun planning for the next campaign – and says he is looking forward to helping the U’s go from strength to strength.

He said: “This is where you start getting judged even more, because you get the group of players that will be ours.

“I’m looking forward to it and you look forward to any challenge in life.

“The one thing we hope is that the club can go from strength to strength with how it’s progressing.

“You can see all the facilities that we’ve now got and what the chairman is doing to progress the club, for the long term.

“You want to be a part of it and do your bit to make it better.

“There were too many players used this season but a lot of it was through injuries and a lot of it was enforced.

“There was also the introduction of a lot of young players, who can’t play every week and there have been players in there who weren’t ours or we didn’t see as being a long-term fit with us.

“You have to adapt and change.

“But the players who’ll be with us next season will be ours and we’re going to be judged on how we progress as a club, going forward.”

Humes wants to ensure that next year, Colchester avoid a repeat of the relegation battles they have experienced in the past three seasons.

The U’s spent much of this campaign in the bottom four and climbed away from danger on the final day of the season, for the second time in three seasons.

“Three years in a row is too much and if you continue in that vein, at some stage you’re not going to have the luck and it’s not going to happen for you,” admitted Humes.

“We have to find the right blend of player to come in to add to what we’ve got and to keep the players believing, fit, strong and together.

“If we can do that, you can see what’s possible.

“Our first target next year is to not be in that position going into the final games of the season.

“We want to maybe enjoy the last six or seven games of the season.

“It’s tough because if you look at the leagues, it’s split between either being up or down.

“As long as progress, consolidate and look to grow every year, that’s the main aim.”

Colchester ended the season with a four-match unbeaten run, where they crucially claimed eight points from a possible 12.

So in the opening weeks of next season, they will they be able to maintain the momentum that helped them escape the drop?

“I think it’s hard, because there’s such a gap in time,” said Humes.

“But if you’re keeping the nucleus together, it can happen.

“They’ll be coming back with a belief and a feel-good factor that we survived and got through.

“They have to take into next season the fact that we can compete at this level.”

Humes’ appointment as Colchester manager last year saw him enter the challenging world of Football League management, after a number of years as an Academy coach.

The 49-year-old admits moving into the role was something of a surprise – but says he has enjoyed the experience and believes it has helped make him a stronger person.

Humes said: “It was something this time last year that wasn’t ever on the horizon.

“But that’s life isn’t it? Life changes and you take the opportunities when they come along.

“It’s been good and I hope it’s not as stressful next season!

“I’m the type of person who tries to enjoy everything.

“It’s a tough job because you’ve got bigger clubs, more experienced managers and more experienced opponents who are trying to make it hard for you, week in, week out.

“It makes you a stronger person, it makes you want to achieve, it makes you want to work even harder with the players you’ve got.

“But I think the players showed that they stuck by the staff here and as long as that happens, it shows we’re on the right lines.

“They gave everything for the club and that’s testimony to them.

“It’s not easy - sometimes it’s about defying odds but we have to build from that.”

For all of the latest Colchester United news, see Wednesday's Daily Gazette.