JOHN Coleman has admitted he was never in any doubt that his Accrington Stanley side were capable of beating Nottingham Forest.

The manager's celebrations were cool, calm and collected after the Reds caused yet another cup upset by dumping the two-time European Champions out of the Carling Cup first round on Monday.

And Coleman insists that even if Stanley were paired with a Premiership giant in the next round he would shape them to create even more cup drama.

"Every time I put a side out I believe we can win and if we played Manchester United tomorrow I'd be going out with a game plan to try to win the game. Because, otherwise, why take part in the game if you're not going to stand up and be counted?" he said.

"It's like going into a fight. If you're just going to let someone batter you why bother turning up?

"If you get that mindset into the players and instill that belief then they can take themselves as far as they want to go."

And that's the reason why Coleman felt frustrations in his side's performance against Forest, regardless of the fact it was their first appearance in the League Cup in over 45 years.

"I still don't think we played anywhere near like we can," he said.

"I know we made chances and I know I've got to be happy with a clean sheet but I still think we can maybe control the game and pass the ball better.

"We had opportunities to go and hurt them and we didn't do that enough."

However, he added: "I think the goal was coming. I think we'd had more chances to them up to that point.

"And if you keep putting the ball in the right areas eventually you're going to get a chance.

"Paul (Mullin) needed to get off the mark, he needs that bit of confidence."