Ryan Inniss enjoyed an impressive Colchester United debut during yesterday’s 3-1 home win over Crawley Town.

Centre-half Inniss shrugged off a knee injury to play the full 90 minutes, operating as a sweeper in a three-man defence.

The Crystal Palace loanee, despite conceding a penalty early in the second half - keeper Sam Walker saved Mark Randal’s spot kick – hardly put a foot wrong.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” explained Inniss.

“They (Crawley) went gung-ho at the end. I know we conceded a goal from the set piece (Jimmy Smith’s consolation), but I thought we defender well.

“We maybe defended a little too deep, but we are a young team, and we put our tin hats on and stuck in there.

“A lot of teams would have let that three-goal lead slip, so I’m happy with the way we played,” added Inniss.

Sammie Szmodics, Ryan Jackson and Mikael Mandron all scored in the first half to seal a second win of the season for the U’s.