ANOTHER day gone and Colchester United's squad remains intact.The transfer window closes next Wednesday, and it can't come quickly enough for U's boss Phil Parkinson.

By Carl Marston

ANOTHER day gone and Colchester United's squad remains intact.

The transfer window closes next Wednesday, and it can't come quickly enough for U's boss Phil Parkinson. Greg Halford, Neil Danns and Chris Iwelumo have been attracting interest from other clubs, but there were no further developments yesterday.

Parkinson confirmed: “There aren't many days left now. I have heard of no other interest, and time is running out for me to find a replacement, if anyone did suddenly leave.

“It would take a massive bid for one of the players to leave. I'm confident that they will all still be here into February. The signs are good. Every year, the club budgets for the team going out at the first round of each cup competition, but we have already made £80,000 in prize money, plus a lot more from gate receipts, in our current FA Cup run. Hopefully, the chairman will be more sympathetic to keeping all the squad together, and perhaps letting me get an emergency loan player if needed later in the season.

“Of course it would be great to have the money to spend, that say Swansea City have got. They've just bought Rory Fallon from Swindon.

“But I knew where this club was at, when I came to Colchester. I knew that it was likely that we would have to sell one or two players, like we did with Wayne Andrews and Craig Fagan last season,” added Parkinson.