George Elokobi says he wants to stay at Colchester United next season – but admits his future at the club is out of his hands.

The 31-year-old defender is out of contract next month but wants to extend his second spell at the U’s, after playing a big part in their League Two play-off push.

Elokobi found himself out of favour in the opening three-and-a-half months of the campaign but returned in November and was an ever-present for 29 games, helping Colchester rise up the table and ultimately miss out on the play-offs by a single point.

Elokobi said: “Hopefully I’ll be here next season because I’m out of contract in June.

“It’s out of my hands and I’ve done what I needed to do this season.

“It’s up to the club to keep me but I’ve done myself and my family proud.

“Every day, I come into work I try and do that and hopefully when my kids grow up, they’ll be proud of me.

“This time last season, I was sat in the changing room having not played for three months with a calf injury.

“I knew I had to come back this season and prove myself.

“I had a few jeers last season. Fans were all disappointed because they wanted to see me back to my very best and I am.”

Elokobi believes Colchester have plenty to build from next season, after finishing eighth in League Two.

They just missed out on a play-off place, despite beating Yeovil Town 2-0 on the final day of the campaign.

Elokobi said: “It’s disappointing not being in the play-offs but we’ve done what we can throughout the season and it gives us a platform to work on, next season.

“We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves and we’re going to kick on next season.

“We’ve given ourselves a momentum and we know what we can do, so hopefully the club can keep everyone together.

“The togetherness has been fantastic, this season and it’s fantastic to finish the season on a high, even though we didn’t quite make the play-offs.

“We knew that something was going on elsewhere but we had to concentrate on the job in hand and that was winning the game and keeping a clean sheet and we did that.

“At half-time, we didn’t know what was going on elsewhere and we didn’t ask any questions – we just knew we had to win the game and finish the season on a high which is what we’ve done.”