STANLEY boss John Coleman paid tribute his players after their dramatic late win at Exeter City - and then told them to start believing in themselves.

Tom Aldred’s injury time winner - moments after the defender produced an heroic goal line clearance - saw the Reds return from Devon will all three points.

Victory saw Coleman’s side move to within five points of the play-offs with a game in hand and the manager believes there is more to come from his team.

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“It was a terrific away win but it is the players who deserve the congratulations,” said Coleman. “I thought they worked their socks off from the first minute until the last.

“We spoke to the players after the game. It is difficult for them because they are immersed in the game. But from the outside looking in, we are so very close to being one of the best sides in the league and we have to start believing in ourselves more and if we do, we are capable of doing it.”

Coleman said his side learnt their lesson from the 3-2 home defeat against Paul Tisdale’s side in November and didn’t allow Exeter to get their passing game going.

“We were surprised how well they pressed us at our place when they won the game and we were determined not to let them do it again,” he said.

“Exeter are a good side and they passed the ball well and if you could pick two sides to play a game of football and be entertained you would probably pick us two because we both try and play, we both try and pass.

“I watched videos of their game against Cheltenham and their keeper didn’t kick the ball once. He must have kicked the ball 10 or 15 times because we pressed him and that was the policy we wanted to adopt from the word go.”

Coleman was delighted to see the Reds finally get a last minute winner since his return to the StoreFirst Stadium and praised Aldred for his heroics at both end of the pitch.

“I was only bemoaning to our players last week that since I have come back they haven’t been scoring last minute goals when they were doing them ten-a-penny last year,” he said. “ So Joycey (Luke Joyce) quickly reminded me off that at the end of the game.

“Tommo (Tom Aldred) is a bit confused about what his role is at the moment. We said do what you are good at and he thinks he is good at both!”

Coleman revealed he was on he verge of taking Sean Maguire off but assistant manager Jimmy Bell convinced him to keep him on - and the striker played the pass that led to the winning goal.

He said: “Jimmy probably deserves credit for us winning the game because I was edging towards taking Seany (Sean Maguire) off and he has convinced me to take Shay (McCartan) off instead because he thought he looked a bit more tired. And Seany has come up with the pass that led to the goal.

“So well done Jimmy!”