Colchester United have completed the signing of former Ipswich Town attacker Darren Ambrose.

The 31-year-old has joined the U's on a one-year deal and trained with his new team-mates this morning at Five Lakes.

Ambrose, who spent time at Colchester during pre-season on trial last summer before joining Ipswich Town, was a free agent this summer after leaving Portman Road.

And he is now in line to make his U's debut this weekend when they host Blackpool in their League One curtain-raiser.

U's boss Tony Humes said: "We're pleased to have Darren here and he gives us that experience and a bit of variation in terms of the positions that he can play and how he fits into the system.

"Darren has had a good career playing at Premier League and Championship level so he's got that quality and that experience.

"There's a variety of positions he can play in, whether it's outside or inside but first and foremost the wide position was one we were looking for with the player we failed to get in so that's probably where he'll start."

For more on this story and a full interview with U's new boy Darren Ambrose, plus a full preview of their opening game against Blackpool, see Friday's Daily Gazette.