New Colchester United first-team coach John McGreal says he has held positive meetings with the club’s players as he begins to shape his squad for next season.

McGreal, who was appointed as Kevin Keen’s successor last week, says his first full week in charge has been “very hectic” as he works closely with director of football Tony Humes on recruiting new personnel for next season.

The U’s management team have also been in discussions with out of contract players, with the club due to announce their retained list in the early part of next week.

The likes of Joe Edwards, Tom Eastman and Nicky Shorey will all see their current deals expire, this summer.

Alex Gilbey, Elliott Parish and Marvin Sordell, who also among those players who are out of contract in the coming weeks, are all expected to leave Colchester.

McGreal said: “It’s been a very hectic week so far.

“We’ve been talking to players in and out of contract but mostly out of contract.

“We’ve been also identifying the areas where we need to strengthen and going through the recruitment process has been non-stop.

“Steve and I have a good team around us and we’ve been working closely with Tony Humes, (chief recruitment scout) Steve McCall and (performance analyst) Michael Still this week and looking at clips and tapes of players.

“It’s a new process for us at the moment and we’re still finding our feet – we’re in each other’s pockets at the moment.

“Ideally, I’d like to get my business done early in the summer.

“We’ve got a lot of weeks to look across, players out of contract and players who might be available.

“We’ll try and get one or two done early and make a real statement to the fans and show that we’re going to give it a right good go next season and hopefully move it forward.”

Colchester’s players have been given their individual fitness programmes by sports scientist Stef Russo to adhere to over the summer break.

They are due to report back for pre-season training on June 28, ahead of the 2016-17 season.

McGreal added: “We want the players to have a very good break and off season and come back fresh and positive for the new season.

“It’s a case of trying to keep the spirits high – that was the main message to the players on Monday.

“They were positive meetings - it was a good insight on how they felt the season went and what they are looking to achieve next season.”

Colchester hold their End of Season awards evening at the Weston Homes Community Stadium this evening.