ROBBIE Cowling says he is ready to give Colchester United a cash boost for new signings in this month's transfer window.

The U's chairman admits the club are currently 'performing below what I can reasonably expect' in League Two.

But he stressed the team's showing so far is not as bad 'as some want to make out', as they bid to move up the table in the second half of the season.

Cowling has revealed Colchester's budget is currently 17th in the fourth tier, due to the loss of stadium revenue and the reduced subsidy he could commit to, at the start of the season.

The U's supremo says having one of the lower budgets is not what he wants for the club - but is now ready to open the purse strings for new faces in the January window.

In a statement, Cowling told the U's website: "I know fans judge the team against previous years and how they performed say two seasons ago against how they are performing this season. That’s reasonable.

"I however have to judge things differently and I do so by comparing the playing budget I make available for the playing squad against the other teams in the same league.

"The EFL share anonymised budget information which shows where our wage spend is compared to everyone else.

"Before the pandemic, thanks to support from my other businesses, I was able to subsidise the club so that it had a top eight budget for League Two and that was supported by academy players like Sammie, Frankie, Kane, Kwame and Tom who didn't count on the budget. Therefore, I could reasonably expect us to get in the top eight.

Gazette:

"The last four years that we were in League One, we could only afford a bottom four budget so for three of those years managers like Joe Dunne and Tony Humes did a remarkable job outperforming their budget and keeping us in that League.

"The club relies on subsidies from my businesses which were very badly effected at the start of the pandemic.

"At that time, I couldn’t afford to invest in the squad and I had to let four senior players leave.

"Last year's performances were not a surprise to me as I wasn’t able to give Steve Ball and Wayne Brown any additional budget and I was proud of the way they helped the club get through a very difficult campaign.

"Like everyone else, I hoped for better this season but the loss of stadium revenue combined with the lower subsidy I could commit to at the start of this season has led to a budget that is currently seventeenth in League Two.

"To give you some perspective, the highest budget in our league is just shy of being twice what our budget is.

"Therefore, we are currently performing below what I can reasonably expect but not as badly as some want to make out.

"Having one of the lower budgets is not what I want for the club and fortunately, the hard work of my staff in all of my businesses during these most testing of times has helped most of those businesses to recover and I am now in a position to provide some additional financial support to the club so that we can make a few signings during this window."