STANLEY defender Mark Hughes insists the Reds are looking up the League Two table, rather than trying to consolidate their position.

John Coleman's side climbed to fourth after sweeping aside Chesterfield 4-0 at the Wham Stadium last time out.

But such is the congested nature of the fourth tier standings that the Reds could end this weekend anywhere from third to 10th.

All four sides currently in the play-off places are locked on 43 points with Stanley at the head of that quartet.

Coventry are a point further clear in third while Swindon, in 10th, are only two points off the top seven.

But rather than worrying about the number of sides involved in what promises to be a tightly-contested promotion race, Hughes is instead targeting a place in the top three and automatic promotion.

“We’re believers and we’re always looking up,” said Hughes who was among the scorers against Chesterfield. “We’re lucky that we made such a good start to this season that we’re still right up there even after losing four games on the bounce.

“A lot of other teams would be looking over their shoulders after a run like that.

“If we could have finished the Morecambe game (which was abandoned with Stanley leading 1-0) then we might have saw ourselves sitting in that top three now, but it’s all in our own hands and we’ll take that.”

The Reds have a game in hand on the three sides above and below them after that Morecambe frustration and appear to have hit their stride again after back to back wins.

But manager Coleman said after the Chesterfield success that there is still room for improvement ahead of the trip to Cheltenham Town on Saturday and Hughes understands where his boss is coming from.

“You can’t complain with a 4-0 win,” the defender told Stanley's official website.

"But, I understand what the manager is saying, I felt the same out on the pitch, you always want more and you always want to be better.

“I thought that we were fortunate to score two goals in the second half, they had a good go at us. I didn’t think we played that great but sometimes in football if you make a good start to the game then the rest can take care of itself.

“After the run that we went on we took everything back to basics, which is working hard and getting into people’s faces, the ugly side of the game.

“I think it’s been no surprise that we’re back to getting results because the football side seems to take care of itself because we know that we’ve got good players here.”