Steven Gillespie has admitted his Colchester United exit came as a surprise.

Gillespie has ended his four-year spell with the U’s, after signing for newly-promoted Fleetwood Town for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old striker still had a year remaining on his contract at Colchester, whom he joined in 2008.

But he has chosen to drop down a division and move to Highbury, after the U’s accepted an offer from the League Two new boys.

Gillespie said: “There wasn’t much of a decision to take by me and it came as a bit of a surprise.

“The offer was made to Colchester and they accepted it; I spoke to Fleetwood and it snowballed from there.

“I spoke to the manager and the chairman there and they sold the club to me.

“It’s a club that’s going in the right direction and their ambition is to play as high as possible.

“They’re on the up and it’s a good club, so going down to League Two doesn’t concern me.

“I did that with Cheltenham Town and we got promoted.

“Being nearer to Liverpool is a bonus.

“But I moved away from there at the age of 19 and I’m now 27, so it wasn’t a big factor for me.”

See Tuesday's Gazette for more of our exclusive interview with Steven Gillespie and further reaction to his move to Fleetwood Town.