DANNY Cowley believes increased competition for places will drive the standards in his Colchester United squad as his players battle for a place in his starting line-up.

The U's head coach feels there is now a battle for every position in his side, following their major summer recruitment.

Deadline day signings Anthony Scully and Jamie McDonnell have increased competition within the Colchester ranks, with a fierce tussle for a starting spot.

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And ahead of tomorrow's home clash with Bromley, boss Cowley insists that can only be a good thing all round.

Cowley said: “We’ve got good competition for places.

“I said to the group today, you’ve just got to look around and know that there’s real competition in every position now.

“You have to see the person competing against you in your position as your best friend, because this is what drives the standards on a day to day basis.

“If we can keep driving those standards and we can keep bringing the best version of ourselves every single day then we’re going to be better than yesterday and we can improve and get better.

(Image: STEVE BRADING)

“They’ve got to compete and earn their places – you’ve got to play well and if you don’t play well, you won’t play.

“My best teams have always had competition for places and it’s always been really difficult to pick a team and when one team trains against the other, it’s really competitive and there’s very little between them.

“This is what drives the standards and I always see the competition as their best friend, because this is what makes them better.

“They have to celebrate it ultimately and enjoy the challenge."

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Colchester made 15 new signings this summer and are still gelling as a group.

The U's are hoping to get back to winning ways this weekend, after drawing 1-1 at Accrington Stanley last weekend.

“We’re a new group; there’s been a lot of change which we expected," added Cowley.

“We’ve got lots of new relationships and lots of new partnerships.

“I think the performances have been good.

(Image: MATT WILKINSON)

“I think our worst performance was last Saturday, at Accrington.

“Sometimes, it’s easier for managers when you go away from home and maybe only have a small away following to brush it under the carpet but for me, it’s always to deal with the truth and live in the truth.

“The Accrington game came around really quickly and we weren’t able to find the energy and intensity we would expect.

“I think we had it in us physically but we just couldn’t quite get to it and that was something that I think we can take some learning from.

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“We know what we want to be, we know how we want to play and how we can play our best football and perform at our best and that’s what we’re constantly and consistently working on, on the training pitch.

“We know that if we get the process right, then the results will come.

“We have a lot of confidence in ourselves as a management team and also in the group that we’ve put together.

“Will it be straight forward? No but I genuinely see really exciting times ahead for Colchester United."