IAN Craney remains hopeful of returning to Accrington Stanley this week – despite being surprisingly recalled to the Fleetwood line-up on Saturday.

Craney’s loan at Stanley expired last week but the midfielder has made it clear that he sees his future at the Crown Ground.

Stanley cannot afford to take over his current wage, though, with Craney on a good deal at Fleetwood, and the 28-year-old may have to negotiate a potentially complex release.

But Craney is unsure whether his recall to the Fleetwood team for their trip to Forest Green on Saturday might mean they now want to keep him.

“I still want to go to Accrington but it’s up in the air,” he said.

“On Thursday morning I was leaving Fleetwood. I wasn’t even supposed to be travelling to the game but then I got told I was travelling, then later that I was starting.

“Obviously I had to be professional about it, though.

“I was hoping Fleetwood would pay the difference because Accrington can’t afford to pay me what I’m on at Fleetwood, but they’ve said they won’t do that.

“There was the possibility of whether I might be able to go on loan for the rest of the season but they’ve said it would have to be a permanent deal. "But I still think something could happen, hopefully in the next couple of days. I just have to sit tight.”