who put him on the transfer list, Brian Little, recently resigned.

Putting his first full season with Stoke down to "a bad experience'', Lightbourne was dropped at the end of the season and placed on the transfer list.

Now determined to get away, Lightbourne has heard nothing of any possible move, though there could be some developments when the players report back for pre-season training on Thursday. The new season starts in the second week of August.

"I don't know anything as yet,'' said Lightbourne who was contacted at home yesterday.

"Most clubs are going back this week so something could start happening in the next four weeks. I have to wait and see who gets the job, I'm still in limbo. No matter what manager comes in I'll definitely be looking to get a move from Stoke.'' The resignation of Little came the day before Lightbourne and his family were ending a short trip to Bermuda and the striker admits he was somewhat taken aback by the news.

"In a way I'm surprised and in a way I'm not,'' said Lightbourne.

"He made the decision to put people on the transfer market and give a few players free transfers as well. He gave the player of the year, Kevin Keen, a free transfer.

"They offered him (Keen) a contract early on in the season and he was getting ready to sign it and then they withdrew the offer. He (Little) must have been thinking about resigning.'' Lightbourne said Little had no money to spend on new players, which could have been one of the reasons behind his decision to quit.

"Whoever gets the job will be in the same situation, really,'' said the striker. "They are going to have to sell players to try to create money.

Things will start happening once teams get back into training and start to build their squads up.'' Lightbourne, who lives near Birmingham Airport, about an hour's drive from Stoke's ground, would like to stay in the area where there are a host of clubs nearby. He is about 20 minutes away from Walsall, Coventry, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City, 40 minutes from Wolverhampton and a half hour from Manchester.

"I'm happy in the area, there are a lot of clubs within an hour or hour and a half away,'' said Lightbourne.

"It's just a matter of which clubs you have an opportunity to go to.'' Lightbourne, who estimates he has scored about 102 goals in his time as a professional in England, starting with his first club, Scarborough in 1992, still thinks he has a couple of 20-goal seasons left in him.

"Without a doubt,'' he stated. "I think I still have it in me.''