Young Ace Bender Could Be U`s Flexible Friend!

Tom Bender could answer a Colchester United conundrum by playing as an emergency foward, becoming either a versatility victim or venerable virtuoso as the club look to cue some striking inadequacies.

The young player is still learning his trade as a left-sided defender by recently revealed in the EADT newspaper that he spent his teenage years coppering elsewhere.

"Until I was about 14 or 15 I always played up front for my school and for my Sunday League side Buckhurst Hill," he explained. His comments are timely as the U`s need toward cover for Steven Gillespie and Kayode Odejayi having lost three attacking options in recent weeks, although sceptics might say that such talk from the callow player are a sign of sheer desperation.

Colchester have lost the services of former Hamilton Academicals and Wigan trialist Joel Thomas, Clive Platt (Coventry), Kevin Lisbie (Ipswich / Millwall) and Scott Vernon (Aberdeen) over the summer and are actively seeking replacements.

So the appealing question is could young Bender become the club`s next flexible friend or might he simply fail if asked to retrain in a possibly unfamiliar position?

Over to you, John Ward!







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