OMAR Beckles hopes Accrington Stanley can use Saturday’s FA Cup success over Luton Town as a spark to revive their underwhelming season.

The Reds defender grabbed the winner in a 2-1 victory over the Hatters on Saturday – his first goal for the club – to land them a welcome cash boost of £67,500 and a fourth round clash.

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While he is delighted to still be in the competition, he also hopes the victory can have a positive effect on their league form as they look to pull away from the relegation zone in the new year.

He said: “It is a relatively new squad and it’s taken us longer than expected to gel, but I feel like we are heading in the right direction.

“We are buzzing, unbeaten in the last two league games and it is a big scalp beating Luton in the third round of the FA Cup.

“Hopefully we can kick on in this competition and the league.

“It’s a massive achievement getting to the fourth round and we are all looking forward to it.

“The club wants to push forward, they don’t want to be looking back, and it’s about climbing up the table and the FA Cup money may help the team.” Beckles joined from non-league Aldershot in the summer and has made 28 appearances in all competitions for Stanley this season, but was delighted to finally get off the mark.

“It was good to get a goal,” he said of his 57th-minute header.

“I feel like it’s long overdue but I am buzzing to start the new year with a goal and a win.

“To get my first goal at this level was massive. It’s about reaching a milestone and now hopefully I can kick on to the next one.”

Beckles was handed the man of the match champagne, but the modest defender felt his teammate Sean McConville, who put John Coleman’s side in front with a 25-yard wonder strike, deserved the honour instead.

“He was unbelievable,” he said.

“I thought I nicked that man of the match off him as he deserved it fully, he was outstanding and every single cross he put in I could have had a goal.

“His deliveries were superb and I knew as soon as the cross came in that I was on the end of it.”

McConville himself was relieved to see the ball hit the back of the net.

He said: “I was looking to slide someone in and saw their back three drop off. I’d had a sighter earlier in the half that went over the stand and I thought to myself I couldn’t hit it as bad as that again so I bent it round and luckily it went in the top corner."

  • Accrington Stanley have confirmed that Chris Eagles has left the club after the end of his short-term contract.

The former Burnley and Manchester United winger, 31, signed a deal at the Wham Stadium in September after being released by Bury at the end of last season.

Eagles made 10 appearances for the Reds, his last coming in the 4-0 Checkatrade Trophy defeat by Wolves Under-23s in November.