TYREECE Simpson has been reflecting on his time on loan at Colchester United.
And the 23-year-old has praised the U's players and staff after his spell at the club.
Simpson spent the second half of the 2024-25 campaign with the U’s, after joining them on loan from League One outfit Stevenage, in January.
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The striker made 20 league appearances for Colchester during his time at the JobServe Community Stadium, six of which were starts.
The former Ipswich Town youngster scored twice for the U’s, both in games against Notts County.
Simpson, who is currently on international duty for the first time with St Kitts and Nevis, says there was a real belief that they could secure promotion from League Two after Danny Cowley's side embarked on a superb 13-match unbeaten run, in the opening weeks of 2025.
Speaking to the Fyfie of Fools Rush In podcast, Simpson said: “I’m not sure what their ambitions were at the start of the season but when they went on the long unbeaten run just before I came in, I knew we were all striving for something greater.
“When I came in and all of the other loan boys and who they brought in in January just added to the group that was already there.
“It was a great group, great staff, great people, great management.
“When we started picking up results, it was kind of like a realisation of how good we are and what we can do.
“It definitely felt like we could get play-offs; there was even a stage where we thought auto (promotion) when results were going our way.
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“I think the problem was we had too many draws and not enough wins and not enough goals, to get over the line.”
Simpson is set to start the 2025-26 season back at parent club Stevenage, where he will be aiming to hit the ground running.
“I feel like as soon as someone believes in what they have and fully goes with it, they become unstoppable and that’s essentially what I want to do,” added Simpson, who made seven senior appearances for his first club, Ipswich Town.
“As soon as that clicks for me…I don’t know why it hasn’t been clicking recently – maybe was I shown too much, too early, I don’t know.
“But I feel like once that clicks and I find that click again, long day!
“At Colchester, there was games where it was coming.
“The later the season was getting on, it was coming and coming and then the season ended and it was just like ‘ah’.
“It’s just about proving myself all the time and just showing everyone what I can do, not taking my foot off the gas.”
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