STEVE Hollis feared he may never play for Accrington Stanley again.

The left back sustained a serious knee injury early in 2002, which kept him sidelined for 12 months.

He feared his footballing career could be in jeopardy, let alone his long-standing spell with the Reds.

But since his return to action in February, the defender has proved he's back to his best and even scored in Stanley's 3-1 win over Burton on Tuesday - his first goal for about two years.

"Defenders have to pile in with a goal now and again don't they," said Hollis, who celebrated his goal after seeing Burton goalkeeper Matthew Duke fumble his free kick.

"I'd like to say I'd been practising the free kicks in training, but I haven't. It was nice to see it sneak in though.

"When I injured my knee, I didn't know if I would still be at Stanley this season or even be able to carry on playing.

"You name it, I think everything that could be wrong with my knee went wrong, cartliage, everything.

"I had an operation and didn't play for 12 months, but when I came back I only missed one game so it was nice to get a little run together.

"I've had a good pre-season this year and I feel I'm getting stronger with each game."

And the 31-year-old Liverpudlian believes his personal progress is being mirrored by the team.

"We haven't lost for six games now, which tells it's own story," he said.

"It would be nice to get into the play-offs and there's no reason why we can't.

"We're still getting used to playing at this level but, as the manager says before every game there's certainly no-one to fear.

"The longer we go on in the league the better we're playing, the fitter we look and I think it all bodes well for between now and Christmas."

And, from a personal point of view, Hollis was delighted to get on the scoresheet on Tuesday night as he fired Stanley back in front.

"John (Coleman) said I'd score before the game, even though my last one was about two years ago," he said.

"I think the lads seemed to enjoy the game on Tuesday. It was a bit cooler, certainly a lot nicer than playing in 100 degrees heat like we have been doing, and there was a little bit of zip on the ground.

"I thought we played quite well in the first half and deservedly scored the goal.

"Burton got back into it, as they were bound to do, but by and large we were on top all the way through the game.

"The lads seemed to look fit tonight and I think we still had another gear."