Colchester United should make signing a goalscorer a top priority this summer.

That is the view of ex-U’s favourite Perry Groves, who believes adding a prolific striker could boost his former club’s League Two promotion challenge, next season.

Colchester are already planning for the next campaign after finishing in 13th position, 13 points adrift of the play-off places.

The U’s mustered 51 league goals this season – the sixth lowest tally in the division – and former Arsenal attacker Groves, who made nearly 150 league appearances for Colchester and is guest speaker at the club’s End of Season awards night tonight at the Community Stadium, says snapping up a goalscorer would give John McGreal’s side greater armoury.

Groves told the Daily Gazette: “If you look at all of the teams in the automatic promotion and play-off places in League Two, you need your top scorer to have 20-plus goals in a season.

“You can wax lyrical about formations and style of play but all of the top teams have that player.

“Sammie Szmodics has been Colchester’s top scorer but he is an attacking midfielder and he’s done well to get 13.

“It’s so important to have a 20 goal or more striker because it means that even if you’ve not played so well, you can rely on them to get you a goal.

“But getting that kind of striker isn’t easy, because everyone else wants one.”

Groves says he has been impressed by Colchester’s philosophy of giving their academy players a pathway to the first team.

The 53-year-old emerged from the U’s youth ranks at Layer Road where he caught the eye before eventually moving on to Arsenal, in 1986.

“I like what they’re trying to do,” said Groves, who won two league titles with Arsenal.

“They can’t compete with some other clubs in their division financially but the facilities they now have at Tiptree are fantastic.

“It reminds me of when I was there, in that we had a lot of young talent in the squad.

“We had the likes of Tony Adcock, Andy Farrell, Alec Chamberlain, Rudi Hedman and we all went onto do well, at bigger clubs.

“We had a really good side, built on a hard knocks grounding.

“I’ve always felt that the under-23 league is a bit like shadow boxing, where there’s no pressure on teams.

“Playing in senior men’s football is the best way to learn and I think it’s testament to Robbie Cowling, because it comes from the top.

“It’s his dream to see a Colchester first-team starting line-up made up entirely of home-grown academy players.

“But I think you still need a couple of experienced players to help the younger ones and that can cost a lot of money, which Colchester haven’t got.

“With my commitments to talkSPORT and other media, I haven’t watched Colchester that often this season but I saw them play against Coventry at the Community Stadium, in February.

“I was really impressed that night with the way they tried to play out from the back and midfield.

“That’s not the case for a lot of sides in League Two and it was also good to see Colchester have a high percentage of younger players, in their team.”

Perry Groves is one of a host of stars involved with Play With A Legend, which gives people the opportunity to play with their footballing heroes.

For information, visit www.playwithalegend.com