Colchester's Chambers excited for his reunion with the Cobblers

Luke Chambers during his Cobblers days in 2006.

Colchester United defender Luke Chambers is looking forward to seeing some 'familiar faces' when his old club come to town this weekend.

The 35-year-old signed for Colchester earlier in the summer following nine years with Ipswich Town.

But it was at Sixfields where it all began. A product of Northampton's academy, Chambers made his senior debut as a 17-year-old in 2003 and went on to rack up 149 appearances across four years at the Cobblers.

Having left for Nottingham Forest and then Ipswich, he's back in League Two and preparing to take on his former club this weekend.

Speaking to the Colchester Gazette, Chambers, who also played under Town's number two Colin Calderwood at Nottingham Forest, said: "Northampton is where I started and it'll be nice to see a few familiar faces.

"They've always done things right ever since I was there, 18 or 19 years ago. They're a good club; I wouldn't say that they're too dissimilar to where we're at, at the moment.

"We've got aspirations of being up at the right end of the table and they will have, as well.

“When I started at Northampton and we got promoted, I played middle of the three in League Two. That was an enjoyable time – I had Sean Dyche right beside me so he was one to learn off.

"We know it's going to be a difficult game and they've had players there last season who have played in League One and they'll be desperate to get back there, next year.

“Being there definitely gave me the right grounding. I was surrounded by the likes of Ian Taylor from Aston Villa, Eoin Jess who was a Scottish international, Martin Smith who scored loads and loads of goals in his career, Marco Gabbiadini.

“I was walking into a dressing room thinking ‘wow, look at the careers they’ve had’. That set me off on the right footing and you can only learn from those players.

“I had some good managers and good coaches there and thankfully, I’ve had the career I’ve had so it’s something I’ll always be thankful for."

Chambers is expected to be fit to start on Saturday after missing Tuesday's League Cup tie at Birmingham City through illness.