COLCHESTER United's latest academy debutant Donell Thomas has been praised after making his senior bow.

The 18-year-old clocked up his maiden first-team appearance for the U's when he appeared as a substitute in their 1-0 defeat to League Two leaders Forest Green Rovers, on Monday night.

Thomas came on as a late substitute for Brendan Wiredu in the 85th minute of the clash at the JobServe Community Stadium, which was screened live on Sky Sports.

The attacking midfielder, who has been a regular for the U's under-23s in the Professional Development League this season, made his presence felt in the closing stages of the match as the hosts pushed for an equaliser.

 

Colchester interim head coach Wayne Brown said: “Young Donell came on for his debut and that’s fantastic for the football club, to see another young lad get his debut.

“I thought he did well and had a positive impact.

“It’s always tough asking a young lad to come on and make an impact but I thought he did that, so fair play to him."

Thomas could get another chance to shine this weekend when Colchester host Tranmere Rovers.

The U's will definitely be without Tyreik Wright, Armando Dobra and Tommy Smith, who are all away on international duty.

Luke Hannant, Owura Edwards, Alan Judge and Emyr Huws were all sidelined for the Forest Green game, leaving Colchester light in some areas.

Gazette:

“We are stretched but we have got some other lads coming back, which is good news," said Brown.

“It gives other people the opportunity."

Colchester will be looking to get back to winning ways against Tranmere.

The U's have suffered back-to-back defeats against promotion-chasing sides and face another team with League One aspirations on Saturday.

Colchester have lost both of their last two fixtures 1-0 and Brown feels the fact that they have stayed in the game against their lofty opponents is a good sign, with eight games remaining.

Brown added: “It just shows where the lads are.

“We’ve had a setback and we have gone behind in a game of football but they haven’t shown disappointment – they’ve had the belief that they are going to get back into the game.

“We were well in the game but we couldn’t find a way and ultimately, top teams do find a way which Forest Green did.

“We need to find a way too and we’ve got a few games left, a tough run-in but we will keep creating chances and we just need to put a few away."