Town have released central defender Aidan Collins for the second time. The 20-year-old was initially told he could leave by Joe Royle a year ago but, after the change of management, was given further time to prove himself.

However, after undergoing knee surgery at the end of last year, boss Jim Magilton has decided that Collins isn't in his plans: “We will be doing all we can to help Aidan find a new club. While the injury has undoubtedly stunted his progress, he is still at an age where his career could take off somewhere.

“He needs to play games to attain match fitness. He has trained very well and having helped him in his recuperation we want to do our best to help him move on.”

Collins played in Tuesday's reserve game with Stevenage and was watched by a number of scouts.

The Chelmsford-born player made his Town debut as a 16-year-old and went on to make three starts and two sub appearances for the Blues. Last season Collins spent time on loan at Wycombe and Stockport.

Magilton says he is not yet drawing the curtain on Darryl Knights's Town career. Earlier in the month the Town manager appeared to signal that the Ipswich-born striker's spell with the Blues was close to an end by saying he could join Falkirk permanently.

That deal fell through and Knights is now on trial at Leyton Orient with Magilton still keen to assess him in league action before making a final decision on his future: “Darryl's career is in limbo. He needs to be away from the building because he is not getting enough games here.

“We'd like to see him play competitive games elsewhere and then we could keep an eye on his progress. It is definitely not a case of us trying to get rid of him - he could still have a future with us.”

Elsewhere, reported Town target Steve Kabba has completed his move £500,000 to Watford from Sheffield United.

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