CHRIS Porter will turn to a man who has helped shape the careers of Premiership stars Boudewijn Zenden and Massimo Maccarone in his bid to maintain his number one status at KitKat Crescent.

The 26-year-old goalkeeper admitted that he feels "flummoxed" following Billy McEwan's decision to haul him off at half-time during Saturday's 2-0 defeat in Morecambe.

But he insists that he is mentally strong enough to survive the blow and has vowed to fight for his place with the help of personal sports coach Sergio 'Slim' Peralti.

Porter said: "When I was a number two to Mark Ovendale I really wanted to push him for his place and I met Slim and his help has been excellent. He comes to all our home games and we work on the mental side of the game and he has helped me to affect what team-mates do and how I can raise he crowd.

"He has Maccarone and Zenden as clients and has really impressed me to the point where I can feel a real improvement in my game. I also do a lot of physical work with him in terms of weights.

"The manager's decision affected me over the weekend and I was mulling over situations in the game but I'm 26 now - not a young lad anymore - and I feel mentally and physically strong. The manager has not said who will be in goal for our next match. I am the number one but I imagine David Stockdale will have his chance now and it's up to him to take it.

"We have a good working relationship but I will be hot on his heels if David gets selected ahead of me. Heart, hunger, desire and passion is my motto and it's what I'm about now so I don't want to give up my place and will fight for it."

Porter added that he respects McEwan's decision but finds it hard to accept his manager's belief that he was indecisive in the first half at Christie Park and partially to blame for Garry Thompson's opening goal from a free kick.

The former Darlington keeper said: "I read in the paper that the manager said I was indecisive but I can only remember one incident when Lee Andrews was chasing the ball back and I called but he cleared it. Lee then apologised and said he was just choosing the safe option as a defender.

"For the goal, the manager is entitled to his opinion and maybe, if I was being hyper-critical, I could have got over quicker but hindsight makes things easier. As far as I was concerned, the wall was lined up, the ball

went over it and into the bottom corner and I tried my hardest to get to it.

"I have never been brought off at half-time in any game. I thought things like that only happened to goalkeepers when you are something like 5-0 down and every goal has been your fault but, as a professional and a team player, you have to respect the manager's decision even though it's hard to accept it."

Should Porter be dropped from the team, he feels the omission will come as he is playing the best football of his career, adding: "Without being seen to be a bighead, I feel I have stepped it up another level this season in terms of my ability. I have worked on my crossing which I think has come on a lot so I am a bit flummoxed as to why this has happened because I feel I have done well."

Updated: 10:09 Friday, December 02, 2005