MATT Bloomfield says he took no pleasure omitting Freddie Sears and Frank Nouble from his Colchester United matchday squad at the weekend.

The experienced attacking duo were left out of the U's final 18 for their trip to play Sutton United.

Sears and Nouble have made nearly 350 Colchester appearances between them, during their various spells with the club.

But the pair were both not included in the U's squad for the Sutton game, which ended in a 2-1 defeat - and boss Bloomfield admits leaving them out was tough.

Bloomfield said: “I don’t enjoy leaving players out one little bit, I’ll be honest.

“I’m a people person and I don’t enjoy seeing the disappointment on the players’ faces when they know they’re not travelling with us.

“Fred and Frank have obviously done a lot for this football club and I don’t take any pleasure in leaving guys like that or anyone else at home.

“But it’s part of the job and we have to pick the team we think can win the game.

Gazette:

“I think on performance, especially in the first half I think you saw that we picked the right squad.

“Unfortunately, the incident goes against us just before half-time and the sending off just after half-time and we had to make changes.

“But there’s good competition for places.

“I respect all of the players 100 per cent and I really respect that a lot of them have had really good careers.

“Some of the young guys are going to go on to do that and I try and be as precise and as honest in my decision making as I can possibly be."

Bloomfield made five substitutions at Sutton, two of which were enforced due to injury.

Gazette:

Luke Hannant was an early replacement for the injured Cole Skuse, while Emyr Huws, Tom Eastman and Samson Tovide all played for at least half the game and John Akinde was a late substitute.

“I think we have a good idea about what needs to happen in certain elements," added Bloomfield.

“It’s no exact science, substitutions but you try and see the game as clearly as possible.

“I talk everything through with Tommo (Richard Thomas) before I do anything and it’s not just my opinion; it’s a team thing with Tommo and Harry (Lee Harrison) and we make sure we come to the resolution that we all want.

“The boys are fighting for the shirt, they’re fighting for what we’re trying to do – there’s no doubt about that.

“From Monday to Friday, the quality of their work and their application has been spot on.

“Unfortunately, there seems to be something going against us at the minute which means our good performances aren’t turning into points but we’ll keep working."

Colchester are next in action this weekend when they host Salford City at the JobServe Community Stadium, kick-off 3pm.

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