Colchester United stalwart Tom Eastman on latest milestone

Now the long-serving defender is firmly entrenched in the club's folklore, having recently clocked up another milestone appearance for his home-town club.

Eastman's appearance in the U's 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers in midweek was his 423rd for the club.

It lifted the former Ipswich Town youngster up to ninth position in Colchester's all-time appearance list, above Percy Ames.

"It's nice to get into ninth position in the all-time list of appearances," said stalwart Eastman, who made his Colchester debut back in May, 2011.

"It's obviously a really good achievement for myself and I'm hoping to climb that list even higher.

"It's my local club and I've really enjoyed playing for them - I've have been lucky to have played the amount of games that I have.

"I was going to Layer Road when I was young and I love the club.

"My family come to pretty much every game so to do them proud is great.

"It's a stat I'm very happy with and there's some great names in there, the likes of Doogie (Karl Duguid) and Kem (Izzet) who I've played with over the years.

"They are players I look up to and hopefully try and beat one day.

"The guy at the top (Micky Cook) has played 700-odd games which may be out of reach!

"I've been lucky over the years that I've played as many games that I have.

"You've got Tommy Smith and Luke Chambers and there's a good battle for positions.

"I've got to keep working hard even if I'm not in the team, work hard in training and when you get that opportunity in the team, you have to try and take it.

"I'm not one to sulk or give up if I'm not in the team.

"I'll keep going and keep trying and keep playing as many games as I can."

Eastman has experienced plenty of ups and downs during his decade-long stint at Colchester.

It's probably fair to say that the 2020-21 campaign was one of the U's less favourable seasons during the defender's long stint following their battles against relegation but he is confident that this one will be better.

"It was a tough year last year and we're trying to rebuild from that really," said Eastman, who is now 19 appearances behind eighth-placed John Fowler (442) in the U's all-time appearance list.

"The lads we brought into the squad at the start of the season are really good.

"It's not been the best of starts but we're building and the last couple of performances have been better.

"Hopefully we can push on now and move further up the league.

"It didn't start that way this season but over the years, we've been really strong at home.

"Hopefully we can turn it around this season and get back to our winning ways, at home.

"We keep going until the end and it shows good fitness within the team, as well.

"Brendan (Wiredu's) run in the 88th minute from his own box to their box just shows the legs we have in our team.

"We keep going until the end, which is a real positive.

"We keep going and with the experience we have in the team, the players have been there and done that.

"We've also got some young exciting players like Sylv Jasper, Dobs (Armando Dobra), Noah (Chilvers) who scored the other night.

"It's a good squad to have, at the minute."

Eastman, who turned 30 yesterday, is hoping to bag a belated birthday present when Colchester take on fourth-placed Port Vale tomorrow.

Hayden Mullins' side head to Vale Park aiming to build on the four points they secured from their last two home games.

Colchester have performed well on their travels in League Two so far this season, tasting their first league defeat on the road only this month when they were beaten at Tranmere Rovers.

"We've done well on the road, this season," said Eastman, who has started Colchester's last three matches.

"Tranmere was a hard place to go and it's going to be another tough place to go, on Saturday.

"Port Vale are a good team but we're a strong, solid team away from home with experience and we have to carry it on.

"The boys are all fresh and fit and we know what to expect.

"Hopefully we can bring home a few points.

"They're quite high in the league at the minute and they've started well but it's still early days.

"There's a long way to go and starting from Saturday, we can push on.

"It's still early and if you look at last season, Bolton started poorly, went on a great run and ended up getting promoted.

"That's definitely the aim for our team."