WHAT a rollercoaster last couple of days at Colchester United!

First came the shock news of loanee Gavin Massey’s sudden recall by parent club Watford, on Thursday afternoon.

But by the following morning, those glum U’s faces were replaced by big smiles as manager John Ward completed the capture of Freddie Sears on loan from West Ham.

It is not every day that Colchester fans are buzzing over an exciting new addition to their squad, but the talented Sears ensured that every U’s supporter had a spring in their step yesterday.

Sears’ move to the U’s, on a one-month emergency loan, was even trending on Twitter at one stage yesterday morning, and it is not every day that Colchester football stories are discussed with such relish on social-networking sites.

Front-runner Sears, a former England under-21 international, is set to make his U’s debut at Yeovil this afternoon, probably on the wing.

The 22-year-old has had Premier Leeague experience with the Hammers, and has also played on loan in the Championship with Coventry, Crystal Palace and Scunthorpe. He has so far played 57 senior games for the Hammers.

In short, he is an exciting talent, and United are fortunate to have signed him up for the next eight fixtures.

Manager Ward enthused: “We feel it is a bit of a coup to get Freddie in and play for us. There was interest from elsewhere, but he has decided to come to us.”

The U’s boss faces some tricky decisions, in terms of team selection, for the trip to Huish Park.

Steven Gillespie and Kayode Odejayi are pushing for recalls to the starting line-up, while new recruits Sears and Martin Rowlands will be hoping to make their full Colchester debuts.