ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman is targeting three more signings, after completing a summer hat-trick of recruits so far.

Former AFC Fylde captain Sam Finley became the latest to join the Reds, signing a two-year deal ahead of the first day of pre-season training yesterday.

Midfielder Finley follows Piero Mingoia, who returned to the Wham Stadium this week after two years at Cambridge United, and former Southampton Under 23 defender Will Wood.

With three signings completed, Coleman was aiming to double his intake as Stanley prepare for life in League One.

“Possibly another three,” said the Stanley boss when asked how many more new faces he hoped to bring in.

But like last summer Coleman has opted not to run the rule over numerous trialists and is instead keeping those numbers low.

“We didn’t have many last year,” he explained.

“I just think it’s not fair on the lads who come on trial and it’s not fair on the rest of the squad.

“We were lucky to have a solid base and hopefully we’ll stay with that.”

And Coleman was pleased with a first day’s work from his players as the League Two champions returned to the training ground to gear up for a higher level.

“It was good,” said the Reds chief. “The lads are in good spirits as you’d expect.

“We’ve got to build on the momentum we had last year.

“We can’t just bask in the glory of last year because that’s gone now. We’ve enjoyed it, we’ve had time to digest it. The harsh reality is you don’t get anything for that now. We’ve got to go again and try to make it even more special next season.”

Coleman added it was time to draw a line under the promotion and title celebrations.

“I think so, yes. You can still use it as a motivational tool but we’ve got to be even better than we were last year if we want to compete in this league. And there’s no reason why we can’t,” he said.

“We sat them down and spoke about the teams that are in the league. We named 12 off the top of our heads and at some point Accrington have beaten all of those teams, so we are capable of doing it.”

With the players running hard but also doing drills with the ball on day one, Coleman admitted he had not made any radical changes to his pre-season preparations despite the step up.

“No. Tried and tested,” he said.