Monday 7 January 2013 18:24, UK
Former England striker James Beattie is set for talks this week over an extension to his stay at Accrington.
Beattie signed a short-term contract as a player-coach at the Crown Ground in November and has helped himself to four goals in nine starts. The 34-year-old's current deal expires on Wednesday and Stanley boss Leam Richardson would like to ensure Saturday's 2-0 home loss to Dagenham is not his one-time Blackburn youth team-mate's final game for the club. "Obviously, contract-wise, that was his last game because it ends on January 9," Richardson told the Lancashire Telegraph. "But I'm going to sit down with James, like I have done for the past few weeks, and speak to him." Beattie is commuting to east Lancashire from Cheshire at the moment and Richardson acknowledges this might be a factor in the final decision. He added: "Geographically and with his family, his personal life and his professional life we need to have a chat. It can't just be decided on a whim. We need to talk about it properly, which we will."
