Frank Nouble felt “proud” to finally celebrate his first goal in a Colchester United shirt, during Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Cambridge.

The much-travelled Nouble, 26, fired home the U’s second with a slick finish to notch his first goal in 10 appearances since his summer switch from Newport County.

“It was obviously a proud moment for myself, to score my first goal for Colchester,” enthused Nouble.

“I just wanted to get the first one, really. Everyone knows the work that I put in every day, and I always thought that it was just a matter of time before I scored.

“I was feeling confident. I had the legs on the defender and just got in there. I knew that if I got good contact, then I would have a good chance of scoring, and it ended up being a good finish, from an acute angle.

“I am not a person that lacks confidence, so not scoring before had not worried me.

“So long as we play and we are winning, then I am happy. I knew that the chances would fall my way, which they did today. It had been frustrating not to score before, but I’ve just kept going.

“When we are winning 6-0 (against Crewe) and I am not on the score-sheet, it is frustrating. I hear about it on Twitter, and my brother is telling me every day that I’ve got to score, I’ve got to score.

“Now I’ve finally got the goal today. It’s a start,” added Nouble.

The former Ipswich Town front-runner, despite his previous lack of goals, had been serving up some excellent performances, helping the U’s to cement themselves as a top-seven side.

Nouble said: “I am a player that can attract danger and make things happen for other people.

“I know that I am vital to the team – the gaffer (John McGreal) has always expressed that to me – I’ve just been working hard.

“I was happy for Courtney Senior to come on and score. That will be a good confidence booster. And Sammie (Szmodics) keeps getting tap-ins!” joked Nouble.

He continued: “No, it was a good finish from Sammie.

“Cambridge are a good team. They have lost games by the odd goal here and there, so we knew that we had to start well, which we did.

“Their confidence was shot a little bit. They still played well, but we were more clinical in both boxes.”

“Generally we knew that we are a better team than Cambridge.”