Blues youngster Monty Patterson says he’s learning a lot while on loan with Braintree Town in the Vanarama National League.
The 20-year-old New Zealand international, who scored a hat-trick for Town’s U23s as they thrashed Watford 8-0 at Portman Road a week ago yesterday, rejoined the Iron at the end of last week for the remainder of the season, although the Blues have a 24-hour recall with manager Mick McCarthy having said he will look to blood some of his younger players once Town are firmly safe from relegation.
Striker or midfielder Patterson, who made five appearances for Braintree in a two-month spell before Christmas, scoring once, made an impressive start to his second stint on Saturday, creating the winning goal for Reece Hall-Johnson in the 1-0 win at table-propping North Ferriby United and making the Non-League Paper’s National League Team of the Day.
"I'm pleased to be back to get some more first-team experience at this level," Patterson told the Colchester Gazette.
"It's a very competitive league and I'm just trying to progress further and help Braintree out if I can while I'm here.
"It's completely different to academy football. I’m learning a lot here and I feel I'm developing as a player by coming into these games week-in, week-out.
"Coming into a high-pressure situation is so important where every game is crucial and you need the points to get out of the relegation fight and then stay out.
"We've managed to do that so far when I've been here on loan so hopefully it can continue.”
The win at the weekend moved the 18th-placed Essex side four points clear of the relegation zone with up to two games in hand over the teams around them and Patterson believes the Iron should be good enough to secure their National League status.
"Every game is important and you want to win but some games, like this, are more important than others when you're both in a similar situation," added Patterson, whose loan side are in action at Eastleigh, who are 13th, this evening.
"We're just trying to get away from that relegation zone and move towards safety. We have the players here to do that and I think we've set ourselves up well.
"We are taking each game as it comes and we just have to try to prepare well for every game. Hopefully we can move away from that relegation zone soon.”