CHRIS Porter had a big influence for Colchester United both on and off the pitch, according to his former strike partner Sammie Szmodics.

Porter has quit the U’s after two-and-a-half years to join their League Two rivals Crewe Alexandra on a two-year deal, with the option of a further year at Gresty Road.

The 33-year-old, who was Colchester’s top scorer this season with 16 goals, rejected a new contract to sign for Alex.

Szmodics said he learnt a lot from Porter – and admitted he was shocked to see him leave the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Szmodics told the Daily Gazette: “I really enjoyed working with Ports.

“It was a shock to hear that he’d left.

“I’ve already told him that I’ll give him a dig or two when we play Crewe!

“He’s not only a great player but he’s also a great person off the pitch, too.

“He’s helped me a hell of a lot and I’ve learnt so much from him – he was a pleasure to work with.

“He’s had a great career and scored a lot of goals for us.”

Szmodics has received the green light to return to pre-season training with the rest of the Colchester squad on June 28.

The former Stanway School pupil underwent his final x-ray and check-up on Thursday morning and received the all-clear to step up his recovery, following the broken leg he suffered in the U’s defeat at Crewe, in March.

He added: “I missed a lot of last season and I’m ready to start afresh.

“I’ve been in doing some body work over the last few weeks, since the end of the season.

“When you’ve been out for so long, you don’t mind going in and doing the work.

“It’s been a bit different for me for this time of year as I’ve been focusing on my legs rather than lungs.

“The last two seasons have been a bit of a write-off for me but that’s in the past now and there’s no point looking back.”

Szmodics was a regular in the Colchester starting line-up in the opening three months of the season but was then sidelined by an ankle injury which required surgery.

And after returning from that setback in March, the 21-year-old suffered another setback when he broke a leg in the U’s 2-0 defeat at Crewe.

He said: “I think my main aim next season has to be not to get injured!

“I sat down with the gaffer and Steve Ball at the end of the season and they told me what they expect from me, next season.

“Every player will have a certain number of goals and appearances in mind that they’d like to achieve and I’m no different.”

Colchester will be aiming to improve on their eighth-place finish in League Two when they embark on the 2017-18 season, which starts on August 5.

John McGreal’s side finished just a point off the play-offs, after ending the season on the back of a six-match unbeaten run.

“We’ll be confident,” added the former Colchester academy player, who scored five times for the U’s this season.

“It will be a strong division again with the teams that have come up and the teams that have come down from League One.

“But I’m confident we can go for promotion and the manager will be instilling that attitude in us again – he’ll be expecting nothing less.

“When you come back for pre-season, there’s always a few new faces on show.

“But we will be together as a squad.

“Ports has gone now – we have to wish him well but focus on our own challenge.”