Colchester United head coach John McGreal feels the club’s summer transfer business has improved the dynamic of his squad.

The U’s players are currently on a pre-season trip to Cheshire, where they are being put through their paces with three training sessions a day.

Colchester have brought in a number of new faces in readiness for the forthcoming League Two campaign, including Harry Pell, Frank Nouble, Aaron Collins and Luke Norris.

And U’s boss McGreal says the changes they have made have made a positive impact – both on and off the pitch.

McGreal told the Daily Gazette: “There’s definitely a change in the dynamic in the dressing room and you can see it on the pitch as well.

“We’ve got a really good, strong squad that we’re assembling at the moment.

“Speaking to a few of the fans, they’re really looking forward to the season which is great.

“There was a semi-final on (the night of the Braintree friendly) and we’ve got our fans coming down and chatting about the team.

“We need to keep producing what we’ve got going at this moment in time – that feel-good factor and that relationship with the fans.”

Colchester have taken a first-team squad of 22 to their four-day trip to Carden Park, which will include a pre-season friendly against Northern Premier League outfit Colwyn Bay, tomorrow night.

“It’ll be a tough training week,” said McGreal.

“Colwyn Bay will be a nice test for us - they play in a tough northern Conference team and you know what you’re going to get with northern teams!

“That’s another thing that we want – we want to be testing ourselves not only on the football side but also, it’s the mental side of things as well.

“It’s good to get to know some of the boys.

“We don’t know the likes of Nouble, Norris, Collins and Pell and when you’re with each other for 24 hours a day for four days, you get to know their characters as well.

“We need all sorts of characters this season in order to succeed and do what we want to do.”