In-form Jacob Murphy believes his loan spell at Colchester United is helping him to become a better footballer.

The 20-year-old winger, who is on loan from Championship side Norwich City, has been in eye-catching form for the U’s.

Murphy, who joined Colchester last month, has helped Tony Humes’ side embark on a timely four-game unbeaten run in League One.

He scored one goal and made another in the U’s vital 3-1 win over Barnsley on Monday, a victory that took them to within two points of safety.

Murphy said: “The boys have welcomed me with open arms and I feel like I’ve settled in really well.

“You can see by the way I’ve been playing that I’m enjoying my football.

“I’m a young player and I feel like my game is improving - I try and improve week by week.

“I want to keep on doing that and that’s what a loan experience is all about.

“It’s about bettering yourself and hopefully I’m doing that.

“I’ve been enjoying it at Colchester and it’s been really good fun.”

Murphy has now netted three times in his last four games for Colchester, after achieving a personal milestone against Barnsley.

“It was the first headed goal of my career, so I was delighted,” said Murphy, who played on loan at Blackpool earlier this season.

“I just jumped up, shut my eyes and tried to stick my head on it.

“I’ve got the scoring bug at the moment so I’ve just got to keep that going.”

Murphy’s impressive second-half display helped Colchester come from behind to claim three vital points against Barnsley.

It was the first time that the U’s have recorded back-to-back wins this season and they have now taken ten points from a possible 12.

“Everyone saw the character and we have a lot of fight in this team,” added Murphy.

“We showed passion and the team is full of belief.

“We don’t want to go down without a fight and I think we showed everyone that we’re here to stay in this league.

“The job isn’t even half done yet and we still have a long way to go.

“We’ll keep it going week by week and hopefully we can keep grinding out results.

“We’re looking forward to Coventry now - it’s a big stadium and hopefully it should be a good pitch.”