Colchester United legend Karl Duguid has returned to the club on a one-year deal.

The 33-year-old is back at the club he served so well for 14 years, after agreeing a one-year deal with the U's.

Duguid had been training with John Ward's side, having left Plymouth Argyle at the end of last season.

But he has impressed Ward enough over the last few weeks to earn a permanent deal with Colchester, with whom he made nearly 450 league and cup appearances during a distinguished first spell at the club.

Duguid, a YTS product for Colchester United, stands in seventh position in the U's league appearances list, after more than a decade of loyal service in his first spell at the club.

He was a substitute in Colchester's Division Three Play-Off Final win over Torquay United in 1998 and helped the club win promotion to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history, in 2006.

Duguid also battled back from a serious knee injury suffered in a game at Stockport County in March, 2004.

He left the U's in 2008 to join Plymouth Argyle but has now returned after a three-year absence and is set to play his first-ever game at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Duguid becomes the U's third summer signing, following the arrivals of Michael Rose and Tom Eastman at the club.