ACCRINGTON Stanley goalkeeper Rob Elliot is determined to win a contract somewhere next season.
And, after Saturday's heroics, the Stanley fans hope he signs up to what is looking increasingly like the Reds return to the Football League.
The teenager is only on loan at the Interlink until the end of the season but then his contract with Premiership side Charlton Athletic runs out.
He doesn't know what will happen next but if he keeps putting in displays like he did against Dagenham, he won't have any problems.
The keeper made some stunning saves in the final 30 minutes of what was a tricky clash against the in-form Daggers, including an injury time Shane Blackett header which he got under to somehow push over the bar.
It meant Rommy Boco's 53rd minute goal earned the Reds another win which makes it 13 league games unbeaten and they are now an impressive 11 points clear at the top of the Conference table.
The players knew they should never have had the nervy ending as Stanley had chance after chance in the first half as they put the Daggers defence under immense pressure.
John Still's play-off chasers, though, came back after Boco's goal - but Elliot was there to keep a clean sheet.
"We put ourselves under pressure as, after the first half, we could easily have been three or four up," said the goalie, who admitted the last minute save was a tricky one.
"It was all chaos and the ball went from the front post to the back and luckily I just went across. He has headed it well and it has gone high and I chucked myself and luckily have got enough contact on it to knock it away.
"It is good from a personal point of view to keep clean sheets and for the team. I don't get a bonus for them, perhaps I will have to have a word about that!
"But this is the most I have had to do in a game since I came here so it shows that it isn't just me who keeps the clean sheets, it is everyone else.
"The work-rate of the two centre halves was excellent and the two lads in midfield worked extremely hard especially Robbie Williams. Leam Richardson has come back and done well and Phil Edwards has been fantastic since I have been here and it is just a good mixture.
"It is a perfect mixture throughout the whole team and luckily I don't have a lot to do and when I do it has gone well and have dealt with it."
As well as playing for Stanley's future, Elliot knows he is playing for his own and it hasn't always been easy.
"I am a long way from home and I was a bit down before the Cambridge game and that showed as I had a very poor game.
"But we had Exeter in the next match and the manager had a word with us and I had to pick myself up as you can't let things like that get to you.
"I have got a living to keep. I have not got a contract at the end of the season, I am waiting for next one, and I have got to earn one whether it is Charlton, here or whoever is watching.
"And the best way to do that is to get Accrington into the league, keep as many clean sheets as I can and try and be as consistent as possible.
"It really helps coming into a team like this with a good manager, good staff and really good players and it has all settled in really well."
It is too soon to say Accrington are unstoppable with 15 league games left but this was a huge game for them as they looked to bounce back following the FA Trophy knock-out on penalties to Worksop in midweek. And Still's side were on a good run of form with five wins out of their last six matches.
However, Stanley had it together from the start and didn't disappoint the bumper crowd of 2,156.
Andy Todd proved a menace on the wing as he had two early attempts on goal with one scrambed off the line.
Paul Mullin had three good chances firing one across goal and wide after good link up play with Todd and Boco. Another was a header he just missed charging onto and the third, after he had made contact with Leam Richardson's left wing cross, was again narrowly wide.
Boco and Ian Craney both had a couple of opportunities as it was one-way traffic in the opening 38 minutes and Stanley couldn't believe they hadn't taken the lead.
And then Dagenham caused a couple of gasps from the Stanley fans when a Sam Saunders corner almost curled straight into the net before Robbie Williams cleared on the line while an injury time free kick from Saunders whizzed wide of the far post.
They were only minor lapses in what had been wave after wave of Stanley attacks before the break.
And it was more of the same after the interval when a Craney corner met the head of Williams but Tony Roberts made an easy catch while the keeper got down low to keep out Craney's 25 yard drive.
Gary Roberts then worked hard down the left and the ball came to Boco who blasted it just inches wide of the upright while Williams also had a go from range. Something had to give as Stanley were getting closer and closer and it happened in the 53rd minute.
Roberts broke but lost his chance although the ball then fell to Craney on the edge of the area. He flicked it to Boco who turned and fired low in the area. It beat the diving Roberts and, to the relief of the Stanley fans, landed in the back of the net.
The one goal should have been the signal for the Reds to press on but instead it was Dagenham who upped the tempo with Reds manager John Coleman believing someone had sneaked into his dressing room before the game telling his side it was "golden goal" as they took their foot off the gas.
Within seconds, Daggers top scorer Chris Moore got his foot to a pass six yards out and looked like he had done enough to get the ball past Elliot but the keeper got his finger-tips to it to push it away.
Glen Southam fired wide and a Saunders free kick was flicked on with Elliot pulling off another stunner to deny the visitors. They then appealed for a penalty when Craig Mackail-Smith collapsed under a challenge from Michael Welch but the referee was having none of it.
It was end-to-end nerve racking stuff as the game was wide open with Craney ballooning an effort over when clean through - but the assistant's flag saved him anyway.
And then Moore raced free and he chipped the outrushing Elliot. Again it looked a likely equaliser but the slightest of touches from the keeper forced the ball just wide.
It was set up for a grandstand finish and it looked like Stanley sub Andy Mangan would relieve the pressure on the fans with his first touch after coming on with five minutes to go.
He broke through and, with only Roberts to beat, forced a two-handed block out of the keeper. Then, a minute later, he was again charging down on goal but a poor first touch let him down.
Dagenham kept going and Southam's right foot drive went into Elliot's arms on 90 minutes while Moore's strike could have sneaked into the far post with Cliff Akurang racing in but Elliot again turned it round for a corner.
And then the Stanley keeper got under Blackett's last gasp header to push it out when it looked destined for the back of the net.
"Rob's made some good saves but it is his job," said Coleman. "There was a few good performances out. Robbie Williams was outstanding, Andy Tretton had a good game and Rommy Boco was always a threat. I would have liked a second for insurance purposes but it is another game we can cross off now and just keep going."
