Colchester United’s leading scorer Kurtis Guthrie admits being released by Accrington Stanley was the best thing for his career ahead of his return to his former club.

Guthrie is back at the Crown Ground for the first time since being shown the door by Stanley after less than a year at the club, in 2011.

Guthrie made his professional debut with Stanley after being signed as an 18-year-old by manager John Coleman, who the striker will come up against tomorrow.

But despite failing to establish himself in their starting line-up, making only six league starts, he rebuilt his career after that and believes his experience at Stanley was an important one.

Guthrie said: “I definitely think my time at Accrington helped me in the long run.

“Leaving there was the best thing for me as well.

“Accrington at the time were a club with not a lot of money and the facilities weren’t the best, so I went right to the bottom of the professional game really.

“Coming out of that completely and rebuilding myself has been the best thing for me and it’s paying dividends now.

“If anything, I’m more thankful that it ended badly there for me, as I was able to go and find a completely different route as it’s helped me build as a person and improve my knowledge of the game.

“I started from scratch all over again and rebuilt myself.

“There’s no love lost there whatsoever. They were a club that took me at the time and that’s all it is to me now.

“It’s just another game and we’ll be looking to get three points.”

Colchester lie just three points off the play-off places in League Two and face an Accrington side this weekend who lie perilously close to the relegation zone.

Guthrie is expecting his former club to battle for everything but says it is vital the U’s get back on track, following their midweek home defeat against Crawley Town.

“Accrington will be in your face and loud and they play the game very well,” added Guthrie, who has scored 11 times for Colchester this season.

“We’ll have to be ready for a battle and at times, they’re going to frustrate you by slowing the game down.

“I think if we can go there and do a professional job, the longer we stay in the game the more frustrating it’s going to be for them and for us, it’s a good chance for us to get back on track.”