Coyne cost Colchester �350,000 18 months ago

Colchester United have denied defender Chris Coyne's claims that they have agreed to cancel the remaining two years of his contract.

The 30-year-old, who is on World Cup qualifying duty with Australia, has struggled to command a regular first-team place under U's boss Paul Lambert.

"It's probably in my best interests to move on... it's something which needs addressing," he told the Herald Sun.

But a club statement read: "There is no agreement in place."

Coyne told the Australian newspaper that he wanted to join A-League side Perth Glory and added: "Paul Lambert came in with new ideas and the fact I was going away regularly with Australia was also an issue."

The Australian cost Colchester £350,000 from Luton in January 2008 and was installed as captain by then-manager Geraint Williams.

"As with all of the players, there was a meeting with the manager at the end of the season and Chris probably hasn't played as many games as he would have liked over the past year," chief executive Steve Bradshaw told BBC Essex.

"However, it seems at this moment in time, he has concerns over his future and how regularly he is playing. Therefore, all parties involved will be having further discussions to clarify Chris' situation."

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