Tom Eastman has been praised by Colchester United head coach John McGreal after he made a surprise return in their 2-1 win over Luton Town.

It had been initially feared that the long-serving defender would miss the rest of the season after suffering ankle ligament damage in the U's 1-1 draw at Blackpool, on February 4.

But Eastman has undergone a series of Prolotherapy injections to heal the rupture in his ankle ligaments over recent weeks, which have helped to reduce his recovery time.

And the Clacton-based centre-back made a welcome and impressive comeback in the U's victory over the Hatters, earning praise from boss McGreal.

McGreal said: “Tom’s been in training for four or five days and I pulled him over and said to him “we’re looking to play you” and he said he was ready to go.

“He’s been out for six weeks and hasn’t trained but he’s had this new medicine and injections that are coming into football.

“A lot of the Premier League players have been using these injections – (physio) Tony (Flynn) did a little bit of investigation into it and Tom was really looking to do it and is back playing within six weeks.

“It’s an absolute credit to him and to put in a performance of that stature against good opposition was quality.”

Meanwhile boss McGreal confirmed youngster Cameron James had been suffering with a hamstring strain in the days building up to the Luton clash, leading to his second-half withdrawal.

James was replaced by substitute Alex Wynter just before the hour mark, in the U's victory over the Hatters.

McGreal added: "Cameron has been suffering with his hamstring over the last few days and credit to him, because he wants to play.

"He's put in another terrific performance for 60-odd minutes.

"We thought he was coming off at half-time but he said that he wanted to carry on and give it a go.

"But there was a run in a channel where he had to sprint out and I saw he was a bit laboured so we felt it was time then.

"Cameron has done terrific and Wynts has come in and done a really solid job for us."