WAYNE Brown has praised chairman Robbie Cowling for backing Colchester United in the January transfer window.

The U's made ten signings in total last month, as they aim to rise up the League Two table and away from the relegation zone.

Colchester were busy on deadline day, bringing in Sam Hornby, Camron Gbadebo and Tyreik Wright before the window shut.

U's head of first-team recruitment Steve Ball put in the work behind the scenes to make the deals happen.

And after a very productive window, interim head coach Brown says both Cowling and Ball deserve credit for the signings that were made.

Brown said: “The chairman has backed the football club.

“He’s one of these fellas who does exactly what he says he’s going to do and he’s done it.

“Credit to Steve Ball – he’s the recruitment fella and he’s done a lot of homework.

“We’ve brought in a lot of players but we’ve brought in quality.

“Strength in depth is what we’ve got now.

“Robbie and Steve have been getting a lot of stick over recent weeks.

"But no-one can grumble at how much they’ve worked and how much they’ve backed the football club.

“They deserve a lot of credit for that."

Gazette:

Colchester brought in a host of new signings in last month's transfer window.

Emyr Huws and Myles Kenlock were two of the new faces brought in by Colchester, last month.

The duo arrived at the JobServe Community Stadium having played little or no football over the past few months but have played 90 minutes in each of Brown's three games in charge so far.

With games coming thick and fast for Colchester over the coming months, the interim boss knows that they have to manage the squad's fitness levels carefully.

Brown added: “The demands that we’re putting on these players are high and we’re expecting high levels of quality but high levels of fitness, as well.

“But we do have to tread carefully in that we do have a lot of lads coming into the environment who haven’t had many minutes of late.

“It’ll be a juggling act and something that we’ll have to work hard at and prepare for.

“But it’s about keeping the lads fresh, going into games to give them the best chance of winning games."