Josh Thompson has signed a one-year deal to stay at Colchester United.

The 6ft 3in defender has been working hard on his fitness throughout the whole of the summer, after an injury-hit campaign last year.

Thompson managed just 25 minutes of senior football for the U's last season because of ankle problems.

But the former Celtic defender has done enough to prove to manager Joe Dunne that he is ready to challenge for a place in his starting line-up again, in the forthcoming season.

Dunne said: "Josh has proved his fitness to me.

"We have our two senior centre-backs (Magnus Okuonghae and Tom Eastman) but after that, we've only really got Frankie Kent.

"It's very important that we have four players in that position.

"We will manage Josh through pre-season properly but he gives us a presence and he's a big, big centre-back who's good in both boxes.

"It's key that we have extra height in key moments of the game, as we're not the biggest side in the world."

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