Portsmouth goalkeeper David James has assured Pompey fans he will not be leaving the club.

Recent speculation has the England international linked with a move away from the south coast following on from a raft of other players leaving, but he says he won't be going anywhere.

"If I wasn't going to stay I wouldn't have played in the pre-season friendly against Guimaraes," James said.

"Moving clubs for me isn't an issue, to be honest. I signed a contract and my intention was to see out the World Cup and the following season and see how it went from there. That hasn't changed as far as I'm concerned.

"Of course it's going to be a hard season. As cliched as that is, I think most clubs will say the same for one reason or another, really.

"But it's going to be a challenging season and I'm looking forward to it. I'd like to think anyone that starts the season for Portsmouth is up for the fight.

"Last season was a poor season for a number of reasons. I think that - providing we have the basics in place which in a lot of respects last season we didn't have - things will be fine.

"We're about to have a new owner, which is a positive step and, although we aren't expecting tens of millions to spend, at least we're looking. So I'm optimistic about everything."