ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman has hit back at his terrace critics after the Reds slipped to 17th in League Two.

Stanley lost 2-0 at home to Newport County on Friday night in front of a crowd of 1,111 and results a day later saw them drop a place, as they sit eight points clear of the relegation zone with seven games left to play.

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Coleman believes his side are not yet safe from the drop but was flummoxed by the criticism he received from the stands after goalkeeper Scott Davies somehow managed to allow a left-wing cross go straight through him and into the net for Newport’s opening goal.

“If you’re a joiner you don’t get people shouting at you,” said Coleman, who has become increasingly irritated by terrace rumblings in recent home matches.

“If you’re a joiner and you put a door on and then the window falls out, or you put a door on and something goes wrong with the heating and you get the blame, you’d soon get pretty fed up.

“I didn’t throw that ball in the net and yet it’s my fault. I’ve got to take the blame because I’m the manager and I’m the one who has to be the focal point, and the focal point for their ire.

“But they weren’t telling me how well we were playing in the first half. It wasn’t my fault then, it was probably that they were playing well in spite of me.”

Coleman returned to Stanley in September after an unsuccessful spell at Rochdale and periods with Southport and Sligo.

“If some people don’t like you they don’t like you,” he said.

“I had this at Rochdale and no matter what you do you can’t please some people, so you’ve just got to get on with your job.

“I know I’m a good manager and I know what I’m doing, and I know for a fact that I know a lot more than these people who are shouting at me in the stands.

“They pay their money and they’re entitled to their opinion but it doesn’t mean that it’s better than mine.

“It won’t be better than mine because they’re not qualified enough.

“But they’ll have their ideas and they’ll have their favourites.

“We’ve got to keep batting away, we can’t crawl in a hole, we’ve got to stick our chests out and try to win games.

“We’ve got to win some games before the end of the season or we’ll go down.”

Coleman admitted he may not look to make changes to his starting line-up – both in terms of personnel and potentially dispensing with the 3-5-2 formation he has used recently.

“We were the better team but we’re not having enough shots and that’s what’s killing us at the moment,” he said.

“Possibly it’s the system that we’re playing.

“That’s going to have to change, we’re not having enough shots.

“We possibly might have to put different players in and see if they’ll do what they’re told.”