Ice baths help Payne become Colchester's Mr Reliable

Jack Payne joined Colchester United from MK Dons at the start of the 2024-25 season

When compiling gift ideas for your birthday, for most people, an ice bath is unlikely to be in your top 10. Or top 50. Or, let's be honest, top 1000.

But Jack Payne isn't most people.

He's a professional footballer, for starters, and this Saturday clocks up the 400th league appearance of his career as Colchester United take on AFC Wimbledon.

It's a match laden with promotion repercussions for both sides with Wimbledon chasing one of the three automatic places and the U's trying to close a seven-point gap to the play-off spots.

To reach the milestone at the age of 30 is testament to Payne's durability in his career so far - something he says has been strengthened by daily sub-zero dips with dozens of bobbing ice cubes.

"I've got a little set up at home," Payne told BBC Radio Essex.

"I do cold plunge every morning before I come in. My parents bought it for me. I was going to buy it but they said they'd get it for me for my birthday. I got it in pre-season last year."

So taken is he with his daily routine, Payne has done his best to rope in team-mates to include it in their own pre-match preparations.

"I've told a few of the lads and they've jumped on it as well, so hopefully I'll create a bit of a cult and get all the lads on it," Payne said.

"When we've got Saturday-Tuesday games, I'll do six minutes and in a normal week I might do three or four.

"I keep a tally on my phone. I'm on day 220 now! It was a lot harder in the winter but it's getting a bit nicer now."

How does Payne know his team-mates are keeping their word on joining in?

"We might send each other a little picture in the morning," he said. "Just to keep us honest!"

'I work hard on staying available'

Payne's mantra to this point has been "stay available" and the inclusion of ice-baths in his routine is a modern-thinking tweak to his career-long drive to play as long as possible.

"I'm definitely fitter now than when I was younger," he said.

"It's a different type of fitness - your body learns how to play games week in, week out, and that's something I feel I've only learned over the four or five years.

"When I was younger, if I started the game I'd usually be one of the first subbed off and I never really settled, but my body has adapted to play 90 minutes every week.

"I work hard on staying available. Everything you do to look after your body is massive. The recovery, especially with the pitches - ours isn't the kindest, it's quite a heavy pitch - so I think how you recover has a massive effect."

This approach has led Payne to believe his game has never been in better shape.

"I feel like my game's adapted," he said. "When I was younger, I may have had better season in terms of in possession, or scored some better goals, but my off-the-ball stuff wouldn't have matched that.

"So I feel now is probably my most balanced style of football on and off the ball. When you get older, you realise that's a lot more important than the individual stuff.

"The key thing is to be reliable and that the manager can depend on you no matter what type of game it is."

Jack Payne scored four goals in 24 appearances for Huddersfield Town as they sealed promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2016-17

Payne's career has come full circle, having started out in Essex at Southend United.

After three seasons with the Shrimpers, that included the first of three career promotions, Payne moved to Huddersfield in June 2016 where he was part of the Terriers' memorable promotion to the Premier League the following campaign.

"That was an amazing season," said Payne, who went out on loan during the two seasons Huddersfield were in the top flight.

"I've been lucky enough to experience a few promotions [with Southend, Blackburn and Huddersfield] and I'm obviously proud to have played that many games."

After loan spells with Oxford United, Bradford City and Blackburn, while he was on Huddersfield's books, Payne secured permanent moves to Lincoln City, Swindon Town and Charlton Athletic between July 2019 and the summer of 2022.

His two years at The Valley included another loan spell with MK Dons last season where Payne came close to another promotion before the club lost the League Two play-off final to Crawley at Wembley.

He signed a two-year deal with Colchester in the summer and has played in every league game this season, chipping in with five goals.

"It's been really nice being back in Essex," he said.

"At 21, I moved up north and spent seven or eight years not really settling. I went out on loan and didn't spend longer than one year at a club.

"It's nice to be back home and in and around my family and I feel really settled off the pitch and that always makes life easier on it."

'Settled' Payne loving life back in Essex

Jack Payne won promotion to the Championship during a loan spell with Blackburn Rovers during the second half of 2017-18

Payne said he is "proud" of making it to 400 league appearances - something he "never expected" when he started out as a teenager at Southend.

"I just wanted to become a professional, so the play the amount of games I've played, and still be involved, is something I don't take for granted."

"One of the under-rated things in football is just being available. I've done my best to do that and play as many games as possible."

Payne also has his eyes on marking his milestone with a spot of record-straightening against Wimbledon, who came back from 2-0 down to beat Colchester 4-2 on the opening day of the season.

"That game really hurt us, especially given how well we started," Payne added.

"We never saw what was coming. It was tough pill for us to swallow.

"That still lives in my memory and hopefully we can get revenge and get three points."

Revenge is, they say, best served cold. In Payne's case, with plenty of ice.

Jack Payne was talking to BBC Radio Essex's Victoria Polley.