Town keeper James Pullen says he was in shock when Joe Royle told him he was making him available on a free transfer. The former Heybridge Swifts man thought he was about to be told he was going to make his third first-team start for the Blues.

Pullen says he was stunned at the news: "I didn't have the slightest idea when I was called in to see the manager," he told the Colchester Gazette.

"I actually thought he was going to tell me I was playing in the game at Derby on Sunday.

"Instead he told me I was being made available on a free transfer and I felt completely numb. I had a tear in my eye when I left his office."

Pullen, who still has a year of his contract at Portman Road left, says he hasn't had a fair crack of the whip at Town: "I don't feel I was given much of a chance to prove myself.

"Apart from my two games, the manager only saw me play for the reserves and they're not ideal matches to be judged in.

"Now I'm on the look-out for a new club and my aim is to get fixed up in time for the new season. Then, hopefully, I'll have the chance to prove the manager wrong.

"I wanted to prove myself here but I haven't been given that opportunity. The irony is that in my own mind I thought I was progressing well.

"I felt I was there or thereabouts with regards pushing for a first-team spot and I still feel I can do a decent job in Division One."

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