'We just see a boy...' - Danny Cowley's Anthony Scully enthusiasm revealed after sealing loan switch for Portsmouth forward on transfer deadline day

The Fratton Park forward moved to the U’s on a season-long loan late on Friday to bring a largely frustrating year on the south coast to an end.

Injuries restricted the West Ham youth-team product to just nine Pompey appearances during his maiden campaign with the club. And while Scully was provided the chance to prove he could be part of the Blues’ Championship plans during pre-season, the decision was made to make the former Republic of Ireland international available for transfer as he entered the final 12 months of his two-year PO4 deal.

Cowley made the most of that availability after he lost Bradley Ihionvien to Peterborough United on deadline day. But it was no coincidence his decision to turn to Pompey and, in particular, Scully for a solution.

Scully was high on the former Blues’ boss radar during his time in charge at Lincoln. And clearly knowledgeable on what a fit and focused Scully can contribute, he had no hesitation in bringing the 25-year-old to the Colchester Community Stadium.

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Cowley told the Daily Gazette: ‘We’d done a lot of recruitment work at Lincoln in the summer just before we left and we were close to taking Anthony on loan from West Ham.

‘It didn’t happen but Lincoln still took him in the next window permanently and, obviously, he was brilliant.

‘He’s a boy that we know well. He’s a really sharp player and a fantastic finisher. He’s got an awesome goal record and he’s a presser with a high amount of energy.

‘He’s had a tough period, I think it’s fair to say. We know that he’s had a frustrating time recently and has been at big clubs like Wigan and Portsmouth or he hasn’t played as much as he would have liked to because of injuries and this has got in his way.

‘This wouldn’t be possible without Portsmouth’s generosity to allow us to take him on the deal that they have.

‘We just see a boy with a lot of talent who has real quality in front of goal and we find him in a really good moment, in terms of how focused he is and he’s had a full pre-season and trained every day, barring three.’

Scully’s last competitive game for Pompey was on January 6, when he played the final six minutes of the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Cheltenham. Colchester are next in action when they play host to Bromley in League Two. No doubt, Cowley will be keen to see Scully hit the sort of form that saw him score 37 goals and register 16 assists during 106 games for Lincoln.

Cowley added: ‘He’s really excited to be here and that was something that was really important to us.

‘As soon as we knew we were losing Bradley, Anthony was our first call.’