Colchester United manager Tony Humes says it was the right time to pick Macauley Bonne in his starting line-up.

Bonne returned to the U’s side for the first time in more than a year against Bristol City and marked his surprise recall with a goal, in last weekend’s 3-2 win.

It was the 19-year-old’s first start under Humes, who also coached Bonne during his days in charge of Colchester’s academy.

The U’s boss said he had to be sure that Bonne was ready to start in League One again – but was pleased with the striker’s contribution on his long-awaited return to the side.

Humes said: “Macauley was great and that’s what we want from everybody.

“He’s a young player who is 19 years old and we have to pick the right times to use him and this was the right time.

“We want to play young players but we can’t fill the team with them if they’re not ready.

“We know Macauley is a good player – he’s played 20-odd games for the club already at 19 years old.

“But it’s hard to ask a player to do that week in, week out.

“It was a great header from Macauley and it was his second 90 minutes in three days.

“He also played for the under-21s last Thursday and he kept going and did a job for us when we needed him to, later on in the game.”

Meanwhile, Humes believes recent performances offer evidence that the U’s are becoming more steadfast as a side.

Colchester have just completed a punishing schedule of five games in 14 days, with four of those matches coming against promotion-chasing sides in the League One table.

Humes said: “The players have got a lot about them and we’re asking them to perform week in, week out and get through tough times.

“They’re becoming resolute and digging in.

“The amount of games takes its toll and we haven’t made masses of changes.

“A lot of players have played a lot of minutes but they’ve shown that they can do it and there are no excuses.

“That’s their job and they have to get on with it.”

Meanwhile, Colchester are still assessing Tom Lapslie after the teenage midfielder picked up a knock in the latter stages of their win over Bristol City.

Humes added: “We’re hoping that Tom’s injury isn’t too bad – the tackle he went in for showed his whole-hearted attitude in a late stage of the game.”

For all of the latest Colchester United news, see the Daily Gazette.