COLCHESTER United youngster Cameron James feels he is getting the best of both worlds at the moment as he continues a productive loan spell with Braintree Town.

The U's defender, who turned 21 earlier this week, is enjoying the challenge of helping the Iron battle against Vanarama National League relegation and feels he is seeing the benefits of that involvement.

However, he is also pleased to have the opportunity to be working alongside his buoyant Colchester team-mates as they continue their bid for League Two promotion.

He said: “I’m training with Colchester twice a week alongside what I do with Braintree so I’m still in and around it with the Colchester boys.

“They’re doing a great job – back up to fourth – so it’s positive all round for me at the moment.

“I’m working with two great groups of lads.

“I felt like I had a bit of a sticky patch at one point but I think I’ve found my form again and hopefully I can push on to help the team at Braintree get to safety."

If anyone was doubting their ability to stage a Vanarama National League survival fight, James feels Braintree’s win against Salford City last weekend should have dispelled that completely.

He was voted as man-of-the-match on the club’s official Twitter account as they beat a high-flying City side 1-0 in dramatic fashion.

Callum Morton’s 95th minute winner was a just reward for an excellent performance by Braintree and despite them still being bottom of the table, James felt it just highlighted how no-one within the Iron camp was entertaining relegation thoughts.

“This has proved that none of us has even given a thought that we may be down,” he added.

“In the changing room, everyone is still believing and you could see that in the work rate from the boys against Salford.

“It was amazing and the feeling around the place is really good considering the position that we are in.

“That’s through the management, the players, the board and the fans.

“The fans were incredible on Saturday and I didn’t think for one second that we would lose that game.

“At the end of the day, it’s three points, but when you play a big team and you think about the players they have and the structure of their club, many people would have written us off.

“But we believed that the points were there to be won.

“We can just take so much confidence from that game.

“Everyone involved is believing in us and there are no negatives at all to take from it.”