Arthur Read says the promise of more game-time was the driving force behind his move to Colchester United.

The 23-year-old midfielder left Stevenage at the start of the transfer window after making 80 appearances in slightly more than two years.

He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee at Boro's League Two rivals and has came off the bench in his first two games, the wins away to Harrogate Town and Rochdale.

He is now hoping for more starts.

Speaking to Col U TV he said: "I’m at an age now where I need to be playing more regular games and Stevenage couldn’t really promise that.

"I thought I always did well when I played at Stevenage but never really got consistent game time.

"Hopefully I can get that in.

"I’m really pleased it happened and got sorted early. I found out about it a couple of weeks ago through a conversation with my agent.

"It kind of died down a bit and then things started to ramp up.

"I went and met Matt [Bloomfield], the manager and the chat was really good – that kind of sealed it."

Read says he is familiar with Colchester, having had plenty of experience playing against them in the past.

He said: "I’ve played against Colchester throughout my whole youth-team set-up and then obviously, the first team starting with Luton at under-nines all the way through to playing against them with Stevenage."