COLCHESTER United boss John McGreal has been delighted with his side's free-scoring ways in pre-season - and hopes it continues when the League Two season kicks-off on Saturday.

The U's concluded their warm-up matches with a 5-1 victory against Gillingham at the JobServe Community Stadium on Saturday.

It was ideal preparation heading this weekend's curtain-raiser at Notts County.

And while too long in the tooth to get carried away, McGreal admits being encouraged by his side's performances during the summer months.

“I’m really pleased with how it’s gone," he said.

“It would be great if we came out of the first month of the season scoring this amount of goals and that’s the idea of trying to implement different systems and styles throughout pre-season.

“But I don’t look too much at results – in a way, it’s more about game time.

“We’re just mixing up what we did last year.

“We’re not standing still – we’re thinking about crunching the numbers and we always look at the stats and figures and try and adapt again.

“We’d like to think we’re flexible enough to change the system both during games and for different matches and the best way to do that is in training and to implement it properly with pre-season games.

“The signings have also come in and hit the ground running.

“They’re bedding themselves in really well within the group.

“Last season, we didn’t have the season we wanted but it shows a statement of intent in trying to get these players in early.

“Last summer, our business was late and we’ve tried to do it earlier this year to give us that little bit of a foothold.

"We’re delighted with the business we’ve done.

“(Chairman) Robbie (Cowling) and (director of football) Tony (Humes) have done particularly well getting the boys in quite early. They've backed myself and (assistant boss) Steve (Ball)."

McGreal has been pleased with the form of one of his new signings, Wolves loanee Aaron Collins.

The striker or winger was among the scorers against Gillingham.

“Aaron had been on the recruitment radar here for a number of months," said the U's head coach, who takes his side to Notts County on Saturday.

“He can play in a number of roles, playing in the top line or out wide.

“He’s come into the squad on a season-long loan and pre-season was important to him, as it was for all the boys.

“That's why we wanted to make it as competitive as possible."

McGreal has also been delighted with striker Mika Mandron, who scored twice against Gillingham.

His performances last season led to speculation he might move on during the summer but he remains an integral part of McGreal's plans.

“Mika is the first one on the training ground and the last one off it," he said.

“He’s an absolute pleasure to work with and I’m not surprised with the attention he’s got.

“He’s six foot three and got into double figures in his first full season.

“He could have scored a lot more – we know that – but he’s still learning his trade and he was up there a lot on his own."