IT'S been a great week for Accrington Stanley - with the record signing of Ian Craney and Paul Mullin committing his future to the club.

I'm delighted that Paul has signed a new two-year deal with us.

As far as I'm concerned, he's a key player, and his record as a striker speaks for itself.

He's Mr Consistency. Every week, he gives us seven and eight-out-of-10 performances. He just never lets us down.

It's taken Paul a week to come to his conclusion, but there was plenty for him to think about after getting offers elsewhere. There was a lot of pressure on him.

Shrewsbury offered him a good deal and they would have tried to tempt him with their new stadium and facilities.

But we also offered Paul a good deal and we are a progressive club moving forward.

I told Paul what I thought.

He's very settled in the area and he's got a young family, and it can be difficult to uproot.

And, if he stayed locally, it might be a nightmare travelling up and down the M6 every day.

But we believe he's come up with the right decision - and we could not be happier.

Paul's been a fantastic servant to Accrington.

Now he's agreed a new contract, I suspect he will finish his career at Stanley.

But he can go on for a few more years yet, simply because he's one of the fittest lads at the club.

Even when he's 35 or 36, I'm sure he will keep on going.

He's a credit to himself in the way he looks after himself off the pitch.

He's in great shape and I'm sure he will want to stay involved playing football for as long as he can.

I suspect Paul has also been encouraged by us bringing Ian Craney back to Stanle on a permanent deal.

The fact we've forked out a club record fee - £85,000 - for Ian shows this club is going in the right direction.

The fans must be looking at that and realising that the chairman still has that hunger, along with the rest of us, and that he is trying to push the boat out.

Ian had big offers from elsewhere, but possibly getting a bit more money is not the be-all and end-all.

I think the deciding factor for Ian is that he knows what we are all about and he enjoys his football here. It's great to have him back.

l Stanley progressed into the semi-finals of the Lancashire FA Canterbury Cup with a 4-0 victory over Preston.

Leighton McGivern, Lee McEvilly, Jay Harris and Andy Procter were all on target.