Colchester United named young team against Swindon Town

The deluge of rain in North Essex scuppered U's supporters' opportunity to get a first glimpse of Ben Garner's team, in their League Two curtain-raiser.

But before referee Anthony Backhouse eventually postponed the game, Colchester had announced their starting line-up - and it made for very interesting reading, not least because of the youthfulness of its appearance.

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The average age of the U's side picked to start against Swindon was under 23 years old.

Nearly half of Colchester's starting XI consisted of 19-year-olds - Samson Tovide, Junior Tchamadeu, Mauro Bandeira, Owen Goodman and Nico Lawrence.

Furthermore, seven of that same side are aged 23 years old or under, three of whom are Colchester academy products.

It is a confirmation of Garner's commitment to the U's ongoing intention to give their young players a chance to shine and commit to their philosophy of providing a clear pathway from their youth set-up to first-team level.

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It was a similar story on Colchester's bench, too.

Of the U's four subsitutes, four were 21 years old or under - Will Greenidge, Al-Amin Kazeem, Jayden Fevrier and 19-year-old striker, Bradley Ihionvien.

“We’ll have a very clear style of play and an identity, as a football club," said Garner.

“I think that will give us an advantage, in terms of being very clear from top to bottom at the club on what we’re all about.

“When people see us play, it will be very clear what we’re trying to do.

“Our aim this season is to have a young, athletic, dynamic team that can play on the front foot, with or without the ball.

“That takes a lot of work on the training ground and recruitment, in terms of who we’re trying to bring in and their character.

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“I think identity and the work off of that is key.

“We’re not too concerned about what everyone else is doing – the focus is purely on us and how we make the best team possible, this season and how do we push every player as far as we possibly can and entertain the supporters, as much as we can.

“If we can do that, then we can hopefully have a successful season."

Giving young players a chance to shine is, of course, nothing new for Colchester.

Last season, the U’s led the way in the EFL for the most minutes clocked up by players aged 20 and under while the likes of Tchamadeu, Tovide and Noah Chilvers also provided more than 50 per cent of their goals and assists, in League Two.

Nevertheless, the addition in the transfer window of four players aged 20 or under on loan, coupled with the departure of experienced players such as Luke Chambers, Cole Skuse, Tommy Smith, Freddie Sears and Alan Judge, does represent a further shift in the direction of having a youthful, dynamic team to compete in the fourth tier.

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It's been an eventful summer so far, with a quick glance at the U's starting line-up for their final game of last season against Mansfield Town a reminder of the changes that have taken place.

Of the U's team that started against the Stags only four players - Connor Hall, Tom Dallison, Arthur Read and Noah Chilvers - were named in the team to start the ill-fated Swindon match.

It is something of a transitional time for Colchester but when they do finally get their new league season underway, Garner and his new-look team will be hoping to challenge at the right end of the table.