LUTEL James has vowed to fight for a first team place until his future with Accrington Stanley is resolved.

The striker was anticipating a move away from the Interlink Express Stadium this week, with Droylsden favourites to get his signature.

At least six clubs have expressed an interest in either signing James or taking him on loan since he went on the transfer list, but there have been complications in completing any deals.

So the 32-year-old is on a mission to achieve peak fitness in an effort to win back his first team shirt.

"If something comes along where it's good for the club and good for me then I will have a look at it. Otherwise I will get on with the job I'm paid to do with Accrington Stanley," James said.

"What's going on won't stop me giving 110 per cent. I just want to play football, so I'll fight for my place in that team.

"I'm going to put in extra training and do extra work with the physio to get sharp because I've been out for a month.

"At the end of the day, the manager's got the final decision, but I intend to make it hard for him to leave me out."

He added: "I could be on the transfer list until at least the end of the season. I'm on contract here so financially any deal has got to be right for all parties.

"I would be prepared to go out on loan to get match fit, but if I'm back in the team and things are working out, then I want to stay where I am."

Meanwhile, Stanley manager John Coleman is urging his side to rediscover their self belief ahead of tomorrow's home game against Exter City (kick-off 3pm).

He was stunned to see the Reds surrender a 2-1 lead against 10-man Oldham in the LDV Vans Trophy on Tuesday night, after dominating much of the game.

"I thought we were the better team on the night, apart from the last 20 minutes. That was the only period in the game we didn't look a threat," said Coleman.

"It's frustrating because a couple of individual players just went to sleep and cost us goals.

"That's hard to bear when so many lads have worked really hard to go and win a game."

Stanley have picked up only five points from their last seven Conference outings and failed to score in three of their last four games.

But Coleman is confident the team can take the positives from Tuesday's display at Boundary Park, despite a 3-2 defeat, and use them as they bid to turn their form around.

"The club's come very far in the last six years and hopefully it will go further in the next six years," he said.

"I believe we're good enough, I think when we get one or two players back from injury and add one or two that I'm after we'll be more than a match for anyone in the Conference."

Lee McEvilly and Chris Butler will be hoping to shake off knocks in time to be fit for tomorrow's game against the Grecians, who were knocked out of the LDV Vans Trophy second round southern section by Swindon on Tuesday.

Captain Peter Cavanagh is also battling to recover from a niggling foot injury while Paul Howarth missed Tuesday's game with a hamstring straing, but central defender Steve Halford is available for selection after 10 weeks out with a broken leg.

"The frustrating thing on Tuesday is that if we'd showed the same appetite and endeavour last Saturday we're still in the FA Cup.

"That's a mental thing and there's not a lot I can do about that.

"I can prepare players but I can't get inside their mind.

"Once they cross that line they're not subuteo players, although I wish sometimes that some of them were so I could put them in the right position.

"I can't get into them mentally, that's down to them, but they've been left without any doubt that if they can show performances like Tuesday for an hour on Saturday, we're not going to accept that any more.

"If they want to do that in the future they can go and do it for somebody else."

"We seem, at the moment, to have lost the belief that we can go and win a game.

"It doesn't matter who you're playing against, when you're 11 v 10 and you've got a lot of the ball, why back off them and invite them into the game?

"It's frustrating but we've got to get it right for tomorrow.

"

"Somewhere along the line a lot of players have got to stand up and be counted.

"If you get seven or eight players playing out of their skin you win more games than you don't.

"It was frustrating on Tuesday that we probably had six or seven who played really, really well.

"You raise people's expectations but you can't lower them.

NATIONWIDE

CONFERENCE