STANLEY boss John Coleman admitted he was at his lowest ebb since the heartbreak against Stevenage last season after seeing his side throw away a much-needed home win against Cheltenham.

Terry Gornell’s 74th-minute header looked to have secured the Reds three points, which would have been only their third home win of the season.

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But a late equaliser saw the Robins head back south with a share of the spoils and left Coleman with a week to wait before his players can try to put it right when they host Lancashire rivals Blackpool.

The draw came seven days after he saw his side miss two injury-time penalties to go down to a 2-1 defeat at Cambridge, and the manager said: “It’s the worse I have felt in a long time, certainly since the Stevenage game last year.

“Last week it was a bit of a freak occurrence but we only lost one point. On Saturday we lost two and that is unforgivable for the situation we are in.

“That is no disrespect to Cheltenham, but I don’t think they could believe their luck when we presented them with a chance to score.

“We have got to improve and the worse thing for me is the week you have to wait to try and put it right. I wish we had a midweek game.”

Coleman is desperate for his side to find some cutting edge and urged them to ‘go forward with purpose’, but also admitted he will be looking at himself as he tries to vastly improve the home form which has stunted Stanley’s surge towards the play-off places.

“We are not creating enough chances because we are not trying to create enough chances,” he said. “We are just trying to complete passes at the moment and that’s madness. The fans get on our backs because we are not going forward quick enough, but there are times when you can’t go forward.

“But when we do go forward, we have got to go forward with a bit of purpose. We have got to take chances, we have got to take risks.

“I can’t remember their keeper having to make a save, so that tells you everything you need to know.”

Coleman is unable to bring in any new faces until January but is confident the Reds have the ability to climb the table.

He added: “I can’t change the squad, and I don’t think I need to change the squad, but certainly some of the attitude has to change.

“I think we need to show more urgency and more will to win.

“We are so loose at the moment and we are not realising the value and the importance of three points every time we play.

“That is two points we have picked up out of nine. And the games we have played, we should have nine.

“But you can’t keep making excuses. you have to look at yourselves and possibly we think we are better than what we are.

“I think we are probably not working hard enough to be as good as we can be, so again I have to look at myself and I have got to improve at what I do.”