COLCHESTER United striker Luke Norris admits he ‘feared the worst’ and went into ‘panic mode’ when he injured his ankle against Swindon Town.

Norris was stretchered off and taken to hospital after suffering the injury in the U’s 1-0 win over his former club in League Two, last month.

The 25-year-old says he was worried he had suffered an Achilles injury in an innocuous incident early in the second half of the game against the Robins.

But after barely a month on the sidelines, the striker is now back to full fitness and pushing for a starting spot when Colchester take on Carlisle United tomorrow.

Norris said: “I’m back a lot sooner than was first thought, which is nice.

“I went to see a specialist and it was bad news at the start.

“Then it improved really quickly and I’ve done a lot of work with Flynny (physio Tony Flynn).

“It’s been good so far and hopefully it stays strong.

“I feared the worst.

“My mate is the Swindon captain and he heard it pop, so initially I thought it might be something like my Achilles.

“It was panic mode.

“It was sort of a freak accident, breaking a bit of bone off but it sounds worse than it is so hopefully I’ve got away with it.

“It was totally innocuous and really strange.

“I hate watching football.

“I enjoy watching games on the telly, but not when it’s your team.

“I really dislike that because you just want to do your bit and play.

“But we’ve done terrifically well and I haven’t been missed at all."

Norris has returned to a Colchester squad riding high in League Two, after taking seven points from a possible nine in their last three games.

“It was the wrong time to get injured because I was playing well," said the former Brentford youngster.

“In the first few weeks I was missing, there weren’t too many goals going in.

“But Szmods (Sammie Szmodics) managed to get some important goals and he’s taken over (from me).

“Now Mika’s (Mandron) got his first of the season which he desperately needed and deserved, so hopefully now we can get back to our free-scoring ways.

“One-nil wins are great and I’ll always take them, but, given the way we were playing earlier in the season, we know we’re capable of so much more.

“Staff at the club and others have said to me that in the past the team might have caved from a 1-0 position.

“Now it’s nice to know we’ve got that resilience, which every team needs.

“No-one will remember how we played against Macclesfield and Forest Green in May - all they’ll remember is the 1-0 wins.”