Hammers need fighters - James

David James has urged West Ham to make sure they sell the right players this summer as he claimed that certain members of the squad do not have the stomach for life in the First Division.

James has indicated that he is happy to remain at Upton Park – if the Hammers do not try to dispense of his services for financial reasons after being relegated from the Premiership.

The assurances from England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson that performing outside of the top flight will not affect his chances of remaining his country’s number one mean James does not need to head for the Upton Park exit.

The former Liverpool star made his sixth successive start for his country in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Slovakia in a Euro qualifier at the Riverside Stadium.

But he knows that Glenn Roeder has to have a group of players totally committed to ensuring 2002-2003 was a mere blip when the big kick off comes around in August.

There is speculation that Frederic Kanoute, Joe Cole and Trevor Sinclair could be on the move while Paolo Di Canio is out of contract and Jermaine Defoe has asked for a transfer.

James said: “There are going to be discussions between me and the club. I am away on holiday on June 21 so I’ve got a few days before that.

“I’ll get this game with Slovakia out of the system and we will go from there. There is no rush because Mr Eriksson has given me the green light about my future not being affected.

“I am happy at West Ham. I’ve started the last five or six games for England as a result of being at West Ham and the environment is good.

“Obviously Division One is not the Premiership but if I can perform as well as I can, and that’s good enough for Mr Eriksson, then we will go from there.”

As for life next season with the Hammers, James said: “There is speculation on players going but some players are not necessarily needed at the club in the First Division anyway.

“By that I mean they are not going to perform anyway and if that (selling players) brings in more revenue then so be it. That is a decision for the club.

“If we keep people like Joe Cole, and if I get a chance then I’ll chat to him, then we have a great chance of going back up. The sad thing is that we could have been a good enough side to stay up last season.

“You take out the element that aren’t going to help West Ham in the First Division and unfortunately there are a couple of players at the club who possibly wouldn’t do that, and we’ve got a great chance of going straight back up.”

James insisted that England are still in the driving seat in terms of qualifying for Euro 2004 as the group moves ever closer to a showdown in Turkey in October in the final match.

He said: “If we win the next two games, then we will top the group going to Turkey so we are in control of our destiny and that’s what you want.”