Colchester United boss Steve Whitton is still waiting to hear from Bobby Bowry after offering the midfielder a contract at Layer Road.

Triallist Bowry, who made his name with Crystal Palace and Millwall, impressed the U's chief with another eye-catching performance in the 2-2 draw with Premiership side Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

Whitton, who was today (Monday) waiting for a response, hopes the playmaker will put pen to paper and bolster his squad for the coming Division Two campaign.

Whitton said: "Bobby's got so much experience. He's played at a high level and a few years ago they were talking about him being sold for big money.

"He only played for half an hour or so but I liked what I saw. You know what you're going to get with him and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him against Norwich on Wednesday."

Another triallist, Christian Lee, also made his mark with a well-taken goal to secure a draw after the U's fought back from two-down against their illustrious opponents.

Of the former Gillingham frontrunner, Whitton added: "Christian scored a great goal but it's still early days.

"He hasn't trained as much as the other lads and I think his lack of fitness showed in the end.

"There are things he needs to work on but what he did he did OK on Saturday."

Whitton said he was pleased with the way his troops kept fighting and refused to let their heads drop after goals from Jonatan Johansson put Charlton 2-0 in front.

"I think there's good competition within the team," he added. "We've only got a small squad but we've got four midfielders, four strikers - everyone knows there's places up for grabs."

Whitton revealed that French duo Aissam Hamdaoui and Didier Zonga and Tresor Kandol have been released after failing to impress while on loan at Layer Road.

Ryman League premier division club Braintree Town, who beat the U's 1-0 last week, were beaten 3-0 at Cressing Road on Saturday by Chelmsford City.

Heybridge Swifts start their pre-season build-up tonight (Monday) against Southend United at Scraley Road (kick off 7.30pm).

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