Alex Gilbey has been praised by manager Joe Dunne after making a positive impact on his return to the Colchester United starting line-up.

The 19-year-old was impressive in helping the U's beat Shrewsbury Town 1-0, in what was his first start since December.

Gilbey provided the assist for Jabo Ibehre's second-half winner and boss Dunne was pleased with the young midfielder's performance.

Dunne said: “I thought Alex was very good.

“He started the season very well.

“With so many injuries, I thought that it was the right moment to give him his rest and watch the game from a different perspective.

“But I thought we saw a really mature performance from Alex along with Marcus (Bean), who ran his legs off.

“It bodes well for the future and when you see that type of attacking line-up we picked, we’ll give many teams a lot of trouble."

For all of the latest Colchester United news, see the Daily Gazette.