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Colchester United boss Danny Cowley accepts that he will have to try and bring success to the club despite being unable to hang on to their most talented young players.

The U's only finished three points and one place above the League Two relegation places last season following the appointment of Cowley and brother Nicky, his assistant, in January.

Since then, midfielder Jay Mingi and winger Jayden Fevrier have both been sold to promoted Stockport County - with goalkeeper Matt Macey the only incoming piece of business so far.

"The world of football knows there are a lot of good young players at Colchester United," Cowley told ����ý Essex Sport.

"Since we've come in, [owner] Robbie [Cowling] has made it clear that he has a real ambition for this club, to continue to move forward, to continue to improve.

"For us to do that, we understand that we have a model where we have to try to recruit young players and develop those young players.

"We have to enjoy them in the first team and then we have to sell them on and use that money to be able to continue the process and continue to grow the club. I think we're doing a really good job on that side of things."

Colchester have not finished in the top half of the table since the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season.

And they only won four out of 20 games following Cowley's arrival - 10 of them ended in draws.

"I suppose we have a conveyor belt of young talent which is fantastic, and now the next challenge for us is to continue to develop this model but also find a way of having consistent success at first-team level in terms of the performance on the pitch," Cowley said.

The club are still waiting news from midfielders Noah Chilvers and Cameron McGeehan, who are both considering new contract offers.