After captaining O’s against Mansfield Town at the weekend, the 28-year-old praised Ollie Palmer and Aron Pollock

East London Advertiser: Leyton Orient defender Aron Pollock hits the ball forward against Mansfield Town (pic: Simon O'Connor).Leyton Orient defender Aron Pollock hits the ball forward against Mansfield Town (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: 07958 573219 simon.oconnor@virgin.net)

Leyton Orient midfielder Lloyd James admits the last two seasons have been difficult for him, but believes he has plenty more to offer.

The former Southampton youngster captained O’s on Saturday against Mansfield Town and assisted the only goal of the game scored by Ollie Palmer.

He was asked about his future afterwards with his current deal running out at the end of this season and once again insisted he would like to sign another contract with the Brisbane Road outfit if it was offered to him.

“It was nice to be captain, I had family here and it was good to have the armband,” said the 28-year-old after making his 137th appearance for the club.

“Obviously I’m out of contract at the end of the season so hopefully it wasn’t my last time, but we’ll see what happens.

“I would like to sign a new deal if something got offered to me, but we’ll see because nothing has been yet.

“The last two years have been a bit up and down for me on a personal note through injury, but I’m still young. I’m in my prime now and feel I’ve got so much more to offer so will continue to do that.”

James missed a large chunk of the current campaign with an Achilles problem and broke his leg during the 2014/15 season.

Although he has struggled with his fitness in the past, the O’s number eight has looked somewhere close to his best in recent weeks.

He helped create the winner for Palmer against his former club and admitted the ex-Stags forward thoroughly deserved to find the net.

“It was good for Ollie to get his goal and in the past couple of weeks he’s been fantastic and done everything, but just hasn’t got that goal,” added James.

“He had a chance in the first half and it didn’t fall for him, but he took it brilliantly in the end and it was a great header.”

Palmer was impressive on Saturday, but it was youngster Aron Pollock who stole the show at the back for Orient and helped them keep a clean sheet.

The 18-year-old partnered Shaun Brisley at the heart of O’s defence and was given the man of the match award following his stunning display.

James said: “Aron has a great character and that, as well as his footballing ability, will take him a long way. He is level headed, works hard and you can see his ability is certainly looking after himself.”