NEAL Trotman made one of the most impressive debuts in a Colchester United shirt, following his masterful display in the heart of defence at Leicester City on Saturday.

Carl Marston

NEAL Trotman made one of the most impressive debuts in a Colchester United shirt, following his masterful display in the heart of defence at Leicester City on Saturday.

Trotman, who does not celebrate his 22nd birthday for another month, delivered a man-of-the-match performance even though this was his first senior game of the season!

Hampered by injuries and unable to break into the Preston first team, Trotman “jumped at the chance” to join Colchester.

“I have a long career ahead of me, but I was getting a big moody with the injury (a hernia). However, I'm back and I'm in a better mood,” insisted Trotman after the 1-1 draw at the Walkers Stadium.

“This is a good chance for me. In fact, I jumped at the chance to join Colchester, especially after looking at the fixture list.

“I saw that we had Leicester away, and also other tough away games at Scunthorpe and Millwall, as well as an attractive home game against Leeds.

“So I decided it would be good for me to go out on loan. Liam Chilvers (current Preston and ex-Colchester centre-half) told me that it would be a good place to come and play some football,” added Trotman.

Manchester-born Trotman, who came up through the youth ranks at Burnley before making the grade at Oldham, signed for Championship side Preston from the Latics for �500,000 at the end of January, 2008.

He made three appearances at the end of last season, including his full debut on his 21st birthday (April 26), but had spent all this term either on the treatment table or stuck in the reserves.

U's manager Paul Lambert was full of praise for his new signing after the trip to Leicester, choosing to compare him to Celtic's defensive stalwart, Bobo Balde. He also insisted that he would buy Trotman, if he had a spare one million pounds!

Trotman continued: “It's good to hear the manager say these nice things about me, but basically I just try and keep things simple on the pitch. I don't try and complicate things.

“I just make sure that I get my head or foot to the ball, and I like to set up others in the opposite box. I told Karl Hawley (fellow debutant) that I would set him up at Leicester, and that's what I did by heading on a free-kick.

“I saw his face when he just failed to score with that header. But at least I kept my word.

“I thought we should have got three points from this game. Leicester were lucky to get even one point,” concluded Trotman.