STALWART defender Tony James admits he would rather Hereford United blew their play-off chances completely than to just miss out.

The Bulls face a nerve-jangling run-in to the end of the season but James is confident if they win their home games they can secure one of the Conference's prized play-off slots.

However the 24-year-old concedes it would be gut-wrenching to have come so far only to lose out on a place in the top five.

"I have been at Hereford for a quite a while now and this is the best chance we've had of going anywhere," he said.

"We're just outside the play-offs and with a good push I think we should end up there and then anything can happen.

"I would hate to miss out by just a couple of points - I think I would rather blow it all together than just miss out.

"I'm a little bit surprised by how well we've done considering it was a new team but we've gelled well.

"We've got ourselves in a good position without having someone scoring a lot of goals but we've had people chipping in goals from all over to make up for that.

"There are eight games left and if we can pick up maximum points from Scarborough today and next week then win our remaining home games we will have a good chance."

James is suspended for today's clash with Scarborough after falling foul of Worcester referee Steve Dorr in the 4-0 defeat at Yeovil when he was sent off for a professional foul in the dying minutes.

He gave away a penalty in the same incident and James believes he was unlucky to receive his marching orders but with refereeing standards varying greatly within the Conference was not totally surprised.

"It was a hard one to call and I don't think the referee had much of a view of it," James said.

"It was down the Yeovil end with all the home fans and I thought it was a bit harsh -- the penalty was enough of a punishment.

"The standard of refereeing does vary quite a lot with inconsistnecy the main problem."