COLCHESTER United have snapped up Josh Doherty on loan from League Two rivals - after Cohen Bramall left to join Lincoln City.

Doherty, 24, has joined the U's on loan until the end of the season as a direct replacement for left-back Bramall, who has moved to the Imps for an undisclosed fee.

Doherty, who is a Northern Ireland under-21 international, is due to see his contract at the Broadfield Stadium expire this summer.

 

 

Colchester head coach Steve Ball told the club's website: "Once again, it's great to have got another player we identified as a target into the squad before the end of the window."

"Josh is a strong character, a decent defender and will be a real plus for us between now and the end of the season.

"He is the third of three excellent deals we got over the line in this last part of the window, and I'm looking forward to working with them all, along with Rem Oteh who signed earlier in January."

He started his career at Watford but made only one senior appearance for the Hornets before leaving to join Leyton Orient, in the summer of 2016.

Doherty moved onto Leyton Orient and had a loan spell at non-league Altrincham before joining Crawley in September, 2017.

The full-back has made nearly 100 league and cup appearances for the Reds, including 18 this season.

He came on as a late substitute in their 3-0 win over Premier League side Leeds United, in the FA Cup.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My next chapter.. let’s get it Lincoln 👊🏾 <a href="https://t.co/PIpDae9Twe">pic.twitter.com/PIpDae9Twe</a></p>— Cohen Bramall (@CohenBramall) <a href="https://twitter.com/CohenBramall/status/1356377727608246272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Meanwhile, Bramall has left the U's for Lincoln for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old has signed a 'multi-year contract' with the Imps.

Bramall told the Lincoln website: “I am buzzing, and I can’t wait to get started. When I spoke with the gaffer, he was really positive about the club.

“I’ve played here before and the supporters were great, I can’t wait to show them what I can bring to the side.”

Bramall made more than 50 league and cup appearances for Colchester after joining them on a free transfer from Arsenal, in 2019.

Colchester have made three signings on deadline day, with Doherty's arrival adding to the earlier captures of Frank Nouble on loan and Brendan Wiredu, on a permanent deal.