Born and Bred: Colchester United

Is great to see you in the Third Round and a good draw against Portsmouth and I am confident you will be able to get through!

Justice/Griffin- I'm very happy with the draw myself, one of the better draws I could have got to be honest! A huge chance to progress further and move importantly get an added boost financially that is needed.

Colchester midfielder Thomas Lapslie has stated that he's 'not going anywhere,' in the January window despite interest from numerous clubs.

The 22 year old has impressed since breaking into the squad in 2014, however last season proved to be the breakout year for the Englishman as he made 31 appearances, only missing out the rest of the season due to a back strain, helping his side to the League Two title in their first year back in the fourth tier.

Known for his 'endless amount of stamina' and 'strong but precise tackling,' Lapslie has been attracting interest from a host of Championship clubs ahead of the January transfer window.

Cardiff, Reading and Derby have all shown interest but have yet to place a formal bid for Lapslie. It is believed however that County are lining up a £1,000,000 offer for his services, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Speaking to us, Lapslie said, 'It's absolutely brilliant to be linked with Championship clubs however my heart lies with Colchester. I've come through the youth ranks here and have steadily progressed year in, year out and I want to continue to do that.'

He continued, 'Maybe one day I'll move on, who knows... but right now isn't the time for me and especially when the club is moving in the right direction. We're one of the favourites for promotion right now so it would be a silly decision to leave the club and miss out on potential history once again. I'm not going anywhere.'

'The fans have supported me since the beginning and I want to continue to show them how much that means to me and how much the club now means to me, the club that gave me an opportunity as a kid and has helped me improve so much in such a short time.'

Glad to see a good player committed

Good to see him reaffirm his commitment, hopefully it'll lead to him producing even better performances on the pitch!

Should be able to keep hold of him from the hands of Championship clubs especially if you continue to be in the hunt for promotion but if Premier League clubs start sniffing you may struggle

MJK- It's refreshing news, it can be difficult to hold onto players when you're a club like Colchester.

Justice- He's been fantastic so far, both this and last season so hopefully you're right.

Griffin- Thankfully for us, at the moment, I don't think he's good enough for that level

25 games gone and top of the league, you wouldn't be blamed for starting to dream now

21 wins away from a league title!

Griffin- It's very tempting but I have to keep level-headed for now, but definitely that thought is cropping my mind.

Justice- We'll have to do a mini-countdown.

After a good stretch of results through October and November, it was going to be difficult to replicate that in December. We lost our assistant manager Steve Ball to Burton Albion who appointed him as their first-team manager just weeks ahead of our trip to the Pirelli Stadium and so a replacement was brought in immediately, we welcomed Kevin Summerfield as our number two.

The festive period begun with the well-documented 5-0 thumping of Stevenage which saw our progression into the third round of the FA Cup – the furthers the club has been in this particular competition during my tenure where we'll face another League Two club, Portsmouth. This was followed up by another cup progression, this time in the Checkatrade Trophy as we beat Tottenham U23's setting up a tie with North London rivals Arsenal.

League-wise we kicked off with an away trip to Gillingham, who were floating just outside the top half of the table. The hosts had just sacked Joe Dunne following a poor start to the season. He had been appointed in January last season, taking over the reigns from Ady Pennock and allowed the club to eventually steer clear from the drop zone and finish in 17th, however the club expected a playoff push which wasn't being delivered. Instead caretaker manager Dave Kenan would lead the side out onto the Priestfield pitch that afternoon.

Despite a barrage of chances to take the lead on a rather muddy surface, we were unable to until the final kick of the game when Adam Le Fondre continued his good form, coming off the bench to score in the 90th minute ensuring a 13th straight win.

Blackburn Rovers followed, a side who were challenging us at the top of the League One table. Recently relegated from the Championship, the once Premier League champions are a shadow of their former selves as owners Venkeys face backlash from fans – a common theme within the Football League that begs many questions that the F.A. perhaps need to address.

Full-back Ryan Fredricks gave Blackburn the lead in the first half but Eddie Nketiah equalised early on within the second half. There was time for a second yellow for Lawrie Wilson that spelled the end of his afternoon and also ruled him out of the away trip to Burton in the following fixture, but the biggest outcome of the day was that Colchester's 13 match winning run came to an end against Rovers.

The unbeaten run was ended next in what proved to be a frustrating day for us against Burton Albion – now managed by former assistant manager Steve Ball. Albion found themselves 2-0 up within ten minutes, goals from Lloyd Dyer and Matty Palmer saw the struggling outfit have a shock cushion over us. Despite many chances to get back into the game we were unable to get the ball past Jon McLaughlin in the Albion goal and it proved costly as the game ended Burton 2 Colchester 0.

An immediate reaction was needed against MK Dons on Boxing Day, a side we faced on the opening day of the League One campaign. The final scoreline in that one was a 1-1 draw, where Brennan Dickenson's goal was cancelled out by Darren Potter following a mistake from Semi Ajayi. This time out the scoreline would be slightly different.

Brennan Dickenson scored another goal against the Dons to give us the lead after 20 minutes and his goal was added to on the hour mark by Bradley Fewster. The home side struggled to get into the game however did string a goal back through veteran Dean Bowditch but the game would remain 2-1 as the full-time whistle sounded across the Stadium MK.

Our month was concluded at the Weston Homes Community Stadium as Scunthorpe travelled to Essex on New Year's Eve. We searched for a win to consolidate our lead at the top of the table going into 2018, whereas Scunthorpe were in need of points to continue their stuttering playoff push.

Both sides struggled to find the target on a chilly afternoon, but once again Adam Le Fondre who has very much become a 'Plan B' option for us over the last few weeks came off the bench to find the winner for us with five minutes to play. Scunthorpe threatened themselves with seconds to go, winger Hakeeb Adelakun cut inside but his effort just spun winger of the goal. The victory ensured we would be five points clear of third-placed Blackburn heading into the New Year.

2018 would begin with a trip to Boundary Park against Oldham Athletic followed by our Third Round tie in the FA Cup. Here's January's fixtures in full: Oldham Athletic (A), Portsmouth (A), Bury (H), Southend United (H), Arsenal U23's (H) Fleetwood Town (A), Coventry City (H.)

Still top and going well. KIU. Hopefully you can get back to consistently winning in the new year

Some interesting things going on behind the scenes at the club and a very positive outlook going into the new calendar year!

A few tricky fixtures next month there, but I reckon you can come out with maximum points!