EXPERIENCED defender Charlie Daniels was not involved for Colchester United in their game against Barrow.

The 35-year-old returned to the U's squad for their game at Forest Green Rovers last week, after recovering from Covid-19.

Daniels came on as a 69th-minute substitute for Junior Tchamadeu in Colchester's 2-0 defeat, at the Fully Charged New Lawn.

But the former AFC Bournemouth and Leyton Orient left-back was not named in the U's squad for their game against Barrow at the JobServe Community Stadium, which resulted in a disappointing 2-0 defeat.

Colchester head coach Hayden Mullins said Daniels was left out of the squad, in order to get more training time under his belt.

Mullins said: "Charlie's been back but he didn't have too much training time.

"We left him out this weekend, just to get a little bit more training in him."

Daniels, who made his 500th professional appearance in Colchester's game at Forest Green, has made 19 appearances for Colchester since joining them on a free transfer, last summer.

But he has not started a game for the U's since featuring in their 3-0 defeat at Walsall, on December 11.

Cameron Coxe has been playing regularly at left-back and left wing-back for Colchester over recent weeks, with Ryan Clampin still sidelined with a long-term injury.

Daniels started his career at Tottenham Hotspur, where he had loan spells at Chesterfield and Leyton Orient.

The Harlow-born defender left Spurs to sign for the O's on a permanent basis in 2008 and made nearly 150 appearances for the London side, before joining AFC Bournemouth in 2011.

Daniels played his part in helping the Cherries win promotion to the Premier League under Eddie Howe and was a key member of their squad in the top fkight.

He made 265 appearances for Bournemouth, with 129 of them coming in the Premier League.

Daniels had spells in League One last season for Shrewsbury Town and Portsmouth and was a free agent this summer, before joining the U's.