Leroy Lita has pledged to battle hard to regain his place in the team after his penalty shoot-out misfortune on Tuesday.

The striker said, "I've spoken to the gaffer about my situation, but I understand the team has been doing well and the gaffer's got to do the best thing for the team.

"Everyone wants to play as much as they can but I've just got to keep training hard.

"I'm not worried about my future because I know there's only one person who can turn around my position - me.

"Strong characters always come back and I'm a strong character."

Looking back on Tuesday night's unfortunate Carling Cup exit at Stoke, where Leroy missed the decisive penalty in the shoot-out, he said, "It was my mistake and I want to put my hands up for it.

"I decided to go for power down the middle because their keeper was going early, but I just mishit it."