Accrington Stanley have extended the loans of two defenders until the end of the season.

Fulham’s Jerome Opoku and West Ham’s Aji Alese were initially with the Reds until January but will now see out the campaign at the Wham Stadium.

The 21-year-old Opoku has established himself as the first choice left back for John Coleman with a string of impressive displays.

The giant defender has made 17 appearances for the Reds this season with 14 of those coming in League One.

"I'm just delighted really, obviously the plan was to get a loan and be somewhere for the whole season, so when this opportunity came I was just happy to stay here until the end of the season,” Opoku said.

"The support has been great and I'm enjoying my time here.”

Also able to play at the heart of the defence, having joined on deadline day back in August, Opoku has also chipped in with three assists.

Centre half Alese, 18, joined on the same day and has made eight appearances, five in the league, but has found it hard to shift first-choice pairing Mark Hughes and Ross Sykes.

"So far I've really enjoyed it and I'm happy that I've made my debut here and I'm happy that I've settled down and hopefully I can continue to enjoy my time here,” he said.

"The aim is to get as many minutes as I can, and to just push on and keep improving."