ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman has insisted that the Reds can still reach the play-off final despite a 2-0 defeat at Stevenage in the first leg of the semi final last night.

Stanley have never won at Stevenage and that run continued as first-half goals from Stacy Long and former Red Joel Byrom, born in Oswaldtwistle, gave the home side victory and put them in command of the tie.

But Stanley took 31 points from their last 11 home games of the regular season and, with a full house expected at the Crown Ground on Friday night, Coleman hopes Stevenage are fooled into thinking the tie is already over.

“We can’t have any complaints about the result,” said the Reds boss, who insisted the poor performance was not down to stage fright.

“I think Stevenage can maybe have more complaints than us that it wasn’t more.

“They should have scored more, they should have been out of sight. They worked hard and the direct approach caused us problems.

“But they’ve shown enough wobbles to tell me the tie’s not dead.

“I’d like to think they think it’s over by the way they celebrated after the game, I think they thought that.

"That’s their prerogative, they might be supremely confident.

“But they’ll see a different Accrington at our place.”