MIKA Mandron has been praised by head coach John McGreal after the striker snubbed the chance to quit Colchester United.

The U’s received an offer – believed to be from League One outfit Peterborough United – for the French striker at the end of last month.

The Daily Gazette understands that the bid was accepted by Colchester but Mandron turned down the potential move, in favour of staying at the JobServe Community Stadium for a second season.

The 23-year-old was one of the U’s leading appearance-makers in the 2016-17 campaign, scoring ten times in his first season in north Essex.

And the former Sunderland forward is set to play his part again in the forthcoming League Two campaign.

McGreal told the Daily Gazette: “I went on record a number of times last season to say how much Mika offers.

“He did terrific for me and played in the majority of our games, only missing out really through suspension.

“He didn’t miss many games at all for us and I have a lot of time for him.

“We know what he can bring and we also know the areas where he can improve.

“He has competition with Frank (Nouble) coming in and that is exactly what we want.

“The challenge for him is to go out and play and score some goals.

“He can still improve even more but he’s only 23 years old.

“It’s testament to him that he’s first in, in training and the last one off the training pitch.

“It’s a reflection of his attitude and he’s a great player to work with.”

Colchester have been handed a trip to play League Two rivals Cheltenham Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

The U's will travel to Whaddon Road for the tie, after the draw was made in Vietnam.

It will mean an immediate return to Cheltenham for Harry Pell, who joined Colchester after leaving Whaddon Road earlier this summer.

The tie will be played in the week commencing August 13.

Colchester will be hoping to make progress in this season's competition, having bowed out at the first-round stage last August.

The U's were beaten 2-1 at home by Championship side Aston Villa in the first round, last season.

At its 2018 Summer Conference, EFL clubs voted on a number of rule changes to this season’s Carabao Cup competition including the removal of extra-time.

In the event that scores are tied after 90-minutes, penalty kicks will be taken immediately to determine a winner.

However, the format of penalties in the competition will revert to their traditional format after EFL Clubs trialled the ABBA concept throughout the 2017/18 season.

In addition to the on-field matters, clubs also voted to remove the seeding arrangements from the first two rounds of the Carabao Cup.