Tony Humes believes Colchester United’s emerging youngsters can be an even stronger force this season.

The U’s will once again boast a large contingent of academy players in their squad, in the forthcoming campaign.

Graduates from Colchester’s youth set-up contributed an impressive 122 first-team appearances, in the 2014-15 season.

The likes of Frankie Kent, Tom Lapslie and Dion Sembie-Ferris all burst onto the League One scene, playing their part in keeping the U’s in the third tier.

And boss Humes feels his fledgling stars will only be stronger for the experience, this time around.

Humes said: “They will have learnt an incredible amount from it.

“They’re going to learn so much from what they’ve been through and be so much better off for it.

“The future is looking very rosy and they fought for their lives to get out of an awkward situation.

“They showed huge character for the whole of last season.

“As we keep saying, it’s a big learning curve for a lot of them and they’re making their way in the game.

“With what’s gone on not just last season but for a lot of them over the last couple of years, they’ll be a lot stronger for it.

“If you look at the last ten minutes against Preston when Sammie Szmodics and Dion Sembie-Ferris came on, they were terrific.

“They played their part in helping us see the game out in the ten to 15 minutes they were on the pitch and that shows the maturity they have.”

Colchester are set to hand senior league debuts to more of their academy players this season.

The likes of Kane Vincent-Young, Callum Harrison and Marley Andrews are among those knocking on the first-team door.

“With what the players are doing in training and how they’re developing, you know when it’s right for them to go into the team,” said Humes.

“When Tom Lapslie made his debut against Leyton Orient last season, everyone probably thought “what on earth is he doing there”.

“They’ve probably learnt very quickly and they’ve been put in situations where you wonder whether they will cope.

“But those young players are getting that experience and are maturing all the time.”