John Ward will take no further action against Freddie Ladapo after the young striker had to be hauled off in a pre-season friendly.

The Colchester United manager hastily withdrew the teenager in the second half of their 4-1 defeat at Witham Town.

Ladapo was taken off by U’s boss Ward after he was involved in a petulant altercation with Town defender Bradley Stopher, at Spa Road.

The 19-year-old forward, who signed his first professional contract with Colchester in March, twice refused to shake Stopher’s hand after the clash.

Ladapo was then substituted by Ward but the U’s boss has moved to play down the incident.

Ward said: “It was nothing major.

“I’m alright with altercations because these things happen.

“But the Witham player twice offered him a handshake and he turned it down.

“We took Freddie off but he came back out after he’d got changed and I sat and spoke with him.

“It’s fine and it’s a learning curve.

“I don’t hold things over - it’s not a major issue for me and we have a lot of teaching to do.

“We’re trying to prevent these things from happening in the future but there are no particular problems with Freddie.”

See Thursday's Gazette for more on this story and all of the latest Colchester United news.