Town keeper Andy Marshall has hit back at Matteo Sereni's favouritism claims made earlier in the season. The Italian threw a minor Roy Keane after losing his place in the Town side with Marshall the major recipient of his invective.

Sereni asked to be rested for the FA Cup game away at Dagenham and Redbridge with Marshall taking over between the sticks and keeping his place for the next two months.

The Italian didn't take his demotion well and accused goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster of giving preferential treatment to his rival.

The former Norwich keeper has kept his silence on the subject up to now, but today told the Colchester Evening Gazette: "As soon as I got in the side, Matteo went to the press and slagged me off, the gaffer and our goalkeeping coach, Malcolm Webster.

"It was a massive surprise when I found out what he'd said. At the time, it seemed totally out of character.

"At first, I thought he might have been misquoted, especially being foreign. I gave him plenty of time to apologise, even hanging round after training one day, but it never happened.

"That just made the situation worse. What he did was completely wrong and left me feeling totally disillusioned.

"I just want the fans to understand what's really happened between myself and Matteo. A few of them approached me after games and asked what the situation was, but I always thought it was best to laugh off any suggestions.

"Now the season's over I want to have my say and put the record straight."

Marshall was particularly taken aback that his staying behind after training was mentioned as an example of Webster's favouritism towards him: "It was a load of rubbish, especially the fact he made an issue of me staying behind for extra training.

"If he had a problem he should have been a man about it and approached me first, rather than hanging out his dirty laundry in public.

"Going to the press first only succeeded in driving a wedge between us."

"The fact I had spells in the team had nothing to do with preferential treatment, it was because he chose to rest on his laurels.

"I've bided my time before putting my case across, but I want people to know that anything other than this is a total misconception."

Marshall looks set to be Town's number one keeper next season with Sereni, who TWTD understands to be on £22,000 a week, one of the favourites to make a move over the summer. The Italian's home-town club, Parma are reported to have expressed an interest by the Italian press.

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