MARTELL Taylor-Crossdale's loan spell at Colchester United has ended early after he returned to parent club Fulham.

The 20-year-old has hardly featured for the U's since joining them on a season-long loan from the Premier League new boys, in early September.

Taylor-Crossdale's only appearance for Colchester came in their EFL Trophy defeat at Portsmouth.

The young striker has not featured in the U's matchday squad for several weeks, leading him to a return to Craven Cottage.

Colchester's Director of Football Tony Humes told the U's website: "It sometimes happens that loan spells don't go the way we all want them to and this was one of those occasions.

"All three parties agreed that it was best for Martell that he went back to Fulham and we would like to thank him for his time here and wish him the best of luck in his future career."

Taylor-Crossdale arrived at Colchester with a promising reputation, having represented England at under-20, under-18, under-17 and under-16 level.

He was at Chelsea in their academy for 12 years but did not make a senior appearance.

Taylor-Crossdale joined Fulham in 2019 and has made one appearance for them to date, as a late substitute in their EFL Cup defeat to Southampton.

The striker also played in the EFL Trophy for their under-21 side against MK Dons and Stevenage, last season.

Taylor-Crossdale was crowned an under-18 Premier League winner twice, FA Youth Cup winner twice, and also a UEFA Youth league winner while playing for Chelsea.

He found the net an impressive 29 times in 37 games in the under-18 Premier League, and 11 times in 36 games in Premier League Two.

Taylor-Crossdale has also represented his country at youth level, having played for the England youth set-up from ages 16 to 20, scoring at every level.

However, it has not worked out for him at Colchester and he has now returned to Fulham.