Noah Chilvers is proud to captain Colchester United

The 22-year-old, who has been at the U’s since the age of nine, has stepped up from his role as vice-captain to wear the armband in the last two games in the absence of injured club captain, Connor Hall.

Chilvers has made more than 150 league and cup first-team appearances for Colchester after progressing through their academy ranks and the skilful playmaker says he is proud to lead the U’s.

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Chilvers said: “Obviously for me, coming through the academy, it’s a privilege to put the shirt on, never mind putting the captain’s armband on.

“It’s something I’ve really enjoyed.

“I enjoyed it a lot more this week than I did last week (against Sutton); it was something I’d never done and I think I maybe got a bit overwhelmed.

“I’m happy to lead the boys and it’s something I’m really proud of.

“Being captain requires responsibility but I think I’ve taken responsibility out there for the last two or three years, without the armband on.

“It’s just a sign to show myself that I’ve done well within that and it’s an honour for me to wear the captain’s armband.

“Each time I do that I’ll be giving 110 per cent, like I would with or without it.”

Chilvers was unable to prevent Colchester from suffering their first league defeat in five matches at Stockport County, last weekend.

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The U’s were beaten 2-0 by the League Two leaders at Edgeley Park, in their first game since Matty Etherington was appointed as their permanent head coach.

“It’s been enjoyable playing under the new manager,” said Chilvers, who was the U’s top scorer, last season.

“There’s a lot of freedom in the midfield I think for players like me.

“With the diamond in midfield (against Stockport), it meant that you can rotate and end up where you want, giving you the ownership to go and get the ball and make things happen, which we all try to do in there.

“Usually when a new manager comes in, you don’t know too much about him whereas, we’ve obviously got a lot of young lads coming through the 23s and they’re able to say what he likes and doesn’t like, so it was a good head start for us really.

“I’ve had a good few bosses in my short career.

“Changing managers all the time is not something that people want as it’s a sign of not succeeding as a team, unless they’re moving higher up.

“To be part of a successful team here would be massive for me coming through and that’s what we’re going to try and do now.

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“We’ve started off really well; the Stockport game was obviously a blip with the loss but there’s positives to come from the performance, so we’ll be looking to go again on Tuesday and get back on track.”

Goals either side of half-time from Kyle Wootton and Callum Camps condemned Colchester defeat to Stockport, who racked up a 12th successive league win.

Chilvers added: “There are a lot of positives to take from that game.

“They’re obviously a good side but on the counter attack, we won it back in good areas.

“I think at times, we were a bit sloppy when if we were a bit cleaner with the ball, we’d have been in for a chance.

“But we created a lot of chances – just as many, if not more than they did really.

“That’s the frustrating thing because we’ve really competed so there are positives but anytime you lose, it’s disappointing.

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“We conceded a second just after half-time but it wasn’t just the goal, it was how we started the second half in general.

“We came out and we weren’t good enough at the start and obviously, we need to get rid of that.

“They took their chances and we didn’t take the openings that we had, even the ones that didn’t lead to chances.

“We had a lot of moments where it looked like one pass, or a cross or we couldn’t get a shot off, myself included in that so it’s something we have to work on.”