HARRY Pell earned the plaudits for his performance on his return to the Colchester United starting line-up against Cambridge United.

The U's skipper was in fine form after coming back from injury but the display of his midfield colleague Ben Stevenson was also impressive - particularly in one specific area.

Stevenson is not necessarily renowned for his physical presence in the middle of the park for the U's, with the former Coventry City youngster having established himself as a silky playmaker during his time at the JobServe Community Stadium.

But there was one eye-catching statistic from Colchester's 1-1 draw with Cambridge that particularly stood out.

Stevenson made more tackles than any other player on the pitch in the League Two clash, according to whoscored.com.

The talented 23-year-old made a impressive total of six challenges in the game, helping his side claim a point.

Stevenson's stats against Cambridge are a reflection of the strength of his tackling, throughout the campaign.

Indeed, the Leicester-born midfielder has made an average of 2.6 tackles per game in League Two this season - more than any other player in the Colchester squad - according to whoscored.com

Pell is the second-highest in that category, with an average of 2.1 tackles per match.

Only seven players have made more league starts than Stevenson for Colchester, this season.

He has been a regular under Steve Ball and has started Colchester's last six league games, having recovered from an injury sustained at Exeter City, last November.

The former Wolves midfielder joined Colchester in January 2018, initially on loan.

He has made 82 league and cup appearances for the U's since then, scoring six times.

Colchester will be looking for more of the same from Stevenson in the coming months, as they look to draw closer to the play-off places.