Gavin Massey believes he has just enjoyed the best season of his career at Colchester United.

And the U’s players’ player of the year says he feels home from home at the club, having recently moved into the town.

Massey, who joined Colchester from Watford in 2012, featured in every one of their 51 games this season and helped them to retain their League One status.

The 22-year-old forward fired eight goals in the 2014-15 campaign and says he relished playing under boss Tony Humes.

Massey said: “This was my best season so far.

“I think I played in every single game and I’m grateful to the gaffer for giving me that chance.

“I’ve got the goals and I could have had a few more.

“I’ve got assists and I feel a lot more confident in myself, which is only going to get better next season.

“I live in Colchester now and it feels more like home.

“Before I did that, I was travelling and it was just a case of me playing for Colchester and going back to Watford.

“But I feel more at home now and there’s a real togetherness between the fans and the club, like we saw after the Preston game.

“It’s been stressful at times this season - we need some time to go away on our holidays and unwind and come back and go again.

“People have written us off but we just keep coming back and we fully deserved to keep our League One status and it was a big achievement.”

Massey says he enjoyed been one of the most experienced players in Colchester’s youthful starting line-up at times last season.

The versatile attacker now has more than 150 league and cup appearances under his belt since making his professional debut, back in 2010.

“It’s weird because if I walked into another club, I’d probably be the youngest one there,” added Massey.

“I had a meeting with the gaffer recently and he said that he wants me to be the focal point and help out.

“I’ve been there and done that and it’s nice to hear.

“It’s something I’ll do and from my experiences from the last few seasons, I’ll help out everyone.

“We’ve battled for the last few seasons and I’ve had the likes of Mags and Beany helping me out.

“Now it’s my time for people like me, Sam and Easty to give some back to the younger players.

“We’ll keep helping each other and get to where we want to be.”

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