Colchester United to hold talks with Matty Etherington

The 42-year-old is in line to be appointed as the U's permanent boss, having taken ten points from a possible 12 in his interim spell.

Etherington was denied a fourth successive victory as Colchester's temporary boss after a last-gasp equaliser earned Sutton United a 1-1 draw, at the JobServe Community Stadium.

READ MORE: No revolution...but Matty Etherington is in prime position for U's role

However, the former West Ham United winger is still hoping to be Ben Garner's permanent successor, having made a positive impression since stepping up from his role as under-21 lead coach.

Etherington said: "I've enjoyed the time that I've been doing it and we'll see what's next.

"I genuinely don't know either way.

"Whether I get it or not, I can look back on these five games and know that I've learnt a huge amount.

"Obviously the Crawley thing one way or the other was only 31 days and I didn't learn a great deal there; I learnt other things but not on the pitch.

"With this one, I've learnt a huge amount, I really have.

"If I'm asked to take the reins then brilliant; if I'm asked to go back to the 21s, then I'll take that learning with me."

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Etherington took over a Colchester side that had just lost four games in a row in League Two and were lying in the relegation zone.

He has led them to three wins and a draw in the four league games he has presided over and feels there has been a positive mindset change, within the squad.

"There's a group in there that are together, 100 per cent," said Etherington.

"You can point to the way that we conceded the (Sutton) goal but there was an element of luck to that and we're sticking together.

"We're strong and there are some tough decisions that I'm having to make.

"There's some people on the bench that think that they should be in the team and rightly so.

"That's the job of a manager to make those decisions.

"I've said to them that I'm not always going to get it right; I'm not perfect, by any stretch.

"You do what you think is best for the team and it's been enjoyable, the last five games.

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“There’s nothing revolutionary going on, trust me.

“There’s things that we’ve changed like training schedules and just a bit of positivity around the place, lots of meetings with players just to see where they’re at, give them a lot of time.

“There’s probably been a mindset change; everyone’s enjoying coming into work and coming into the training ground and I think if you breed that within the staff, players etc then you’ve got a chance of going on and being successful.”