Cameron James still believes that Colchester United are within striking distance of the League Two play-offs, despite being down in 12th position with just two games remaining,

And the 19-year-old would love to cap his breakthrough season with a Wembley appearance, in the play-off final.

The U’s, three points adrift of the top-seven, travel to already-relegated Leyton Orient this Saturday, before ending their regular campaign with a home match against lowly Yeovil on the final weekend.

“I don’t think that time is running out,” insisted James.

“We’re staying positive, everything is positive in and around the training ground.

“We’ve still got two games, two winnable games, one away and one at home, so we’ve just got to pick up six points and see what happens. I still believe that we are more than still in it – we are right in the mix with a lot of teams playing for those last four places,” added James.

The U’s have drawn their last three matches, a 1-1 draw at Morecambe on East Monday sandwiched by home draws against Doncaster and Plymouth, who have both already been promoted to League One.

Centre-half James, meanwhile, has played the last 13 games on the trot, since bursting onto the first-team scene.

James continued: “I’m more than happy with the way I have come into the team, and the way I have played. But just to get in the play-offs and to play at Wembley would top it off perfectly.

“We had a good run, half-way through the season, which got us back up to where we wanted to be.

“We’ve known all season what we are capable of, and confidence has aways been high. Obviously even with all the injuries, we have shown that we have still got the strength in depth in the squad.

““We are still not out of it – we are not far off it at all. The play-offs are still within reach for us.

“We’ve had the chances to win our last three games, but the last away game (at Morecambe) was the most disappointing. The two other games were good points to get against the top two teams.

“This Saturday will be a big occasion. It’s a local game, at Leyton Orient, so there will be a lot of fans there. We’ve just got to take our momentum into that game,” concluded James.