Fiacre Kelleher says he is ready to play any part asked of him by new Colchester United head coach Matty Etherington.

The Irish centre-back has had his injury problems since joining from Bradford in January, but is fit and raring to go once again.

And he is relishing the chance to do his bit for the League Two club, as they head to leaders Stockport County this weekend.

"I feel ready to go, to be back involved, ready to play any part that Matty sees me playing for him coming in," he said.

"I'm delighted, it's been a tough season for me so far. I've had lots of lows, had that high of coming back the first time and then getting injured again.

"But I'm buzzing to be back, making sure I do everything correct now and don't get another injury.

"The first two or three weeks back I was feeling little aches, little pains everywhere really.

"It was just about managing that and getting through that, working through it, and now I feel like I'm really fit, my body feels in a really good place."

The 27-year-old has been out for two months with a groin problem, but had some minutes with the under-21s before a late substitute appearance against Sutton last weekend and returns just as Connor Hall sits out with an injury of his own.

"He'll definitely be missed," he added.

"It's something I've always thought is important out on the pitch, that you have somebody that's nice and loud, pushing people, pushing the line, getting people up and that's something Connor [Hall] is really good at.

"I can step in and do a similar thing, whether I'm playing or just involved with the squad, I can get stuck into the lads a bit and keep pushing them."

Colchester have enjoyed a purple patch in recent weeks, taking 10 points from a possible 12 thanks to wins over Grimsby, Accrington and Swindon, and last week's draw with Sutton.

And Kelleher admits he would have loved to have played a bigger part of that run.

"It's been really hard watching the lads because the more you get to know me the more you understand I just want to be out there," he said.

"I want to be a part of it, especially when the club has been so good to me.

"I feel like I've kind of let them down a little bit, being injured, but I'm just looking to make sure I can make up for that time off."

A trip to Stockport is as tough as they come at the present time, but Kelleher says they have nothing to fear.

"They're 13 games unbeaten I think at that place," he added.

"It's a fortress for them but in saying that we're in good form, in a good place, we can go there and upset the way they play.

"We're going there full of confidence and belief, which is stark contrast to where we were four weeks ago, that we can take something from it.

"The form the lads are in, some of the boys are playing really high level, really high standards. We have nothing to fear really.

"Matt will have us set up the right way to cope with their strengths.

"If we go up there and do what you do when you're at a tough place, slow things down, make it hard for them, I'm sure that will all come into play, I'm hoping we can take something from it."