After struggling with injuries last year, Lloyd James looking to have success under new boss Ian Hendon

East London Advertiser: Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon (pic: Simon O'Connor).Leyton Orient head coach Ian Hendon (pic: Simon O'Connor). (Image: 07958 573219 simon.oconnor@virgin.net)

Leyton Orient midfielder Lloyd James may only have returned to pre-season training earlier this week, but he is already looking forward to the new season and doing his upmost to make the club successful again.

An injury-hit 2014/15 campaign restricted the Welshman to just 17 appearances last year and he couldn’t prevent the O’s suffering relegation to League Two.

It wasn’t the season anyone expected after going so close to promotion in the campaign before that, but the 27-year-old is positive about the year ahead.

With Ian Hendon coming in as head coach and a new good feel about the place at Orient, James is keen not to dwell on the past.

He said: “I just want to get back to being fully fit and work hard and get back to games. I need this, I need a proper pre-season to get myself going and hopefully I can pick up it like I did at the start of the last campaign.

“You learn every season and as you get older you gain more experience, but what is done last year is done.

“We can’t dwell on that because we could end up in trouble again if we do so we just need to stay focused.

“It is a fresh start, new members of staff, a new gaffer and new players and I am sure we have the quality in our dressing room to have a good go this year.”

When James returned to Orient’s Chigwell training base on Tuesday for tests, it was the first time he had seen some of his team mates for a short while.

But French defender Mathieu Baudry wasn’t one of them as the pair have seen each other a lot since the end of the season.

James explained: “It was good to see some of the lads, I went to ‘Frenchy’s’ wedding in the summer so I have seen too much of him!

“I went to his stag do as well, but it is good to be back and it is good to have a bit of craic with the players. Most of all it is good to be back playing football again and back out there playing in the games.”

Seven players from last season’s squad have departed Orient following their relegation and although sad to see them go, James is excited about working in what feels like a new group.

He added: “That is football, you have people come in and people go. It seems like a whole new group because obviously some left and the staff has changed, but we have just got to concentrate on the league this year.”

After last year, everything seems a lot more positive at Orient under Hendon and long may that continue.