CAPTAIN LUKE IS EYEING A TREBLE
Prosser and pals eager to step up
EVEN IF Colchester achieve the holy grail of promotion this season, pragmatic Luke Prosser isn’t sure the U’s will be able to keep hold of their homegrown leading lights.
Colchester’s academy has produced blossoming talents such as classy defender Frankie Kent, combative midfielder Tom Lapslie and leading goalscorer Sammie Szmodics, all 23 – but chairman Robbie Cowling has gone on record to admit that he may be forced to cash in when the vultures begin to circle.
That harsh dose of reality may be tough to stomach for some U’s supporters but with his team still gamely in the hunt for a play-off place, skipper Prosser would love to send any prospective departures off with a bang.
Top-quality
“Colchester is not a selling club but it is a club where a lot of top-quality players come through the ranks,” said the 30-year-old defender.
“Last Christmas and this Christmas, Sammie Szmodics had a lot of interest, so he’s someone that will be desperate for promotion. If he was to leave this summer, going out that way would be special for him.
“We’ve got Frankie Kent, who’s a fantastic defender, and Laps (Tom Lapslie) has just signed a new long-term deal.
“We’ve also got a lot of young boys in and amongst the squad training with us nowadays. It is really good the way the club does it.
“If they’ve got an opportunity of playing higher, then you can’t take it away from any footballer. They need to jump at that chance.
“Ideally, if we get promoted, and people move on, then fantastic. We had that at Southend with Dan Bentley, a lifelong Southend fan who saved a winning penalty (in the 2015 League Two play-off final against Wycombe) before leaving (for Brentford) the following summer.”
Soon after Colchester dropped back into League Two at the end of the 2015-16 season, Prosser arrived at the JobServe Community Stadium from Southend, with head coach John McGreal looking to inject ready-made promotion pedigree into his squad.
The Enfield native had been part of the Shrimpers’ 2015 play-off final winning squad before lifting the title in the fourth tier whilst on loan with Chris Wilder’s all-conquering Northampton a year later – but disaster soon struck the newly-appointed U’s captain.
A knee injury that required multiple surgeries kept him out for 14 months – from November 2016 to January 2018 – and Prosser is now looking to finally make good on his wealth of League Two knowhow.
“When you look at the size of the teams in League One now – like Sunderland – it’s huge,” he said.
Different
“League Two is different but, in terms of football, if anybody’s seen us play this year, we like to get the ball down and play it because that’s the Colchester way.
“The standard has come a long way, especially whilst I’ve been in League Two for a few years.
“People used to say that it was long ball and direct – and it can be like that at times – but there are a lot more footballing teams, which makes it tougher.
“I was at Southend and it took us five or six years to get promoted via the play-offs, and then, at Northampton, they went up as champions, so to experience that was completely different to via Wembley – both were fantastic experiences that I’ll cherish in my career.
“If I’m lucky enough to do that again this season, obviously as club captain, it would be special for me.” A third career promotion from League Two would undoubtedly make up for the many moons Prosser spent on the sidelines, unable to aid his teammates where it mattered. It may also even be enough to keep Colchester’s prodigies from fleeing the nest.