SAM Walker finished our interview with a knowing smile on Friday night.

It was just after I’d asked him if there was any news on his contract situation.

“There might be an update next week and I’ll leave it at that,” he said before climbing on the team bus ahead of a long journey home.

His comment and the smile were a clear hint that he could put pen to paper in the next few days.

And U’s fans will be desperate to hear that development, as indeed they would be to read anything about Freddie Sears staying.

He, like the goalkeeper, is out of contract next summer and, with a transfer window about to swing open early next year, it remains to be seen where his long-term future lies.

Hopefully, for both players, it’s with the U’s.

Walker is a quality goalkeeper, surely up there with the best in the division, while Sears’ goal record tells you everything you need to know about the former West Ham man.

A dozen goals by this relatively early stage of the season is explosive form and if he keeps it up – assuming he stays at the club and remains injury free – we’re looking at a talisman capable of plundering 25 goals plus.

Sears is brimming with confidence and there was something special about his performance at Barnsley.

The irony is that by his standards he didn’t have the most outstanding game.

He squandered chances before his late goal but still had the confidence and self-belief to keep grafting, to keep getting in the right positions.

He didn’t let those missed opportunities get him down.

He didn’t dwell on them, let them affect him and become a passenger.

Instead, he was rewarded with his goal and what an unstoppable, clinical finish it was, taken with aplomb by a man riding on the crest of a wave.

Long may it continue – in Colchester United colours.