It’s all in the mind, according to David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper who won back his place in the England team after employing a psychologist to improve his performances.

Portsmouth's 1-0 FA Cup fifth-round win away to Preston North End on Sunday was largely down to James's heroics as he saved a 60th-minute penalty from Simon Whaley and made a number of other outstanding saves to book a quarter-final match against Manchester United at Old Trafford next month.

The 37-year-old former Watford trainee employs psychologist Keith Power to aid his pursuit of perfection and revealed his success goes far deeper than a couple of extra hours on the training field. "I use a sports psychologist and it's improved my game tremendously," James said. "I make use of it in the hotel before the game, in the bus to the ground and on the pitch. I work on covering every eventuality, so I don't get surprised and psychology is a big part of my game.

"I'm a perfectionist. I want to do things and do them right. You want to strive for perfection but I'm not going to beat myself up for not getting there. My kicking wasn't great (against Preston) but there were plenty of things which were positive."

James was a member of the underachieving Liverpool side of the mid-1990s labelled the 'Spice Boys' for their partying lifestyle. He also caused a stir when he modelled underwear for Armani and blamed his goalkeeping errors on playing too many video games.

The Calamity James nickname - given to him after some high profile blunders - has stuck but James's ability has come increasingly to the fore in recent seasons and he remains in peak physical condition.

Having won back his England place for Fabio Capello’s first game in charge, James has fixed his sights on being England's first-choice goalkeeper at the next World Cup finals. He will be pushing 40 when the finals in South Africa come around in 2010, but Harry Redknapp has no doubts about the 6ft 5in stopper.

"There's no reason why he can't make the World Cup in 2010 because he will play on for a long time yet," the Portsmouth manager said. "He's such a perfectionist and is a great trainer. He is absolutely dedicated and he is in such great condition."

James's outstanding form has encouraged hopes that Portsmouth can reach the FA Cup Final and he is confident about their prospects. James was part of the losing Liverpool and Aston Villa sides in finals in 1996 and 2000.

"In both FA Cup finals I got to with Liverpool and Villa, there was a lot of fear in the sides I played in," James said. "I don't think we had one shot on target combined in either game. This group of players [at Portsmouth] aren't worried about anything. There's not a fear and with three more [wins] we are the winners of the FA Cup, which I would more than welcome."