JOHN Coleman wants Accrington Stanley’s eyes to be on the top half of the table after Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Morecambe made it four wins in their last five games.

Stanley have lost just one of their last 11 outings to ease their relegation fears and move up to 14in the League Two table, five points off the top half.

A Shay McCartan double at Morecambe handed Coleman’s side victory, but only after surviving a nervy final few minutes when Aaron Wildig handed Morecambe a lifeline with eight minutes to go.

Accrington now have back-to-back home games with Grimsby and Cambridge, the two sides directly above them in the table, as they look to continue their impressive run.

On striving for the top half, Coleman said: “We have (to), and we have a massive game on Saturday.

“The squad is getting thinner, it’s going to be all hands to the pumps and then a midweek on the Tuesday after.

“But when you’re winning the players want to play games and hopefully we can get a few more points on the board and get us in to the top half.

“I’m delighted with the result and in the main, I’m delighted with the performance.

“It was a smashing game, both teams had a go, and you have to take your hat off to the character that Morecambe showed to get themselves back in to the game that looked beyond them.

“We had played well, we had controlled the game, we had created and taken our chances, but then they popped up with a goal which left us with a very nervy last 10 minutes.

“But for a great save from Marek (Rodak) it would have been honours even.”

Stanley started brightly, creating a number of good opportunities, but Coleman was disappointed they weren’t able to make the most of them.

Indeed, they had to wait until the stroke of half-time to take the lead through McCartan’s free-kick, before the forward doubled his tally midway through the second half for his sixth goal in his last nine matches.

“The worrying part was that we weren’t hitting the target, we hit the inside of the post, but that’s not the target, you don’t get a goal for that,” he added.

“We hadn’t worked their keeper, and the first time we did, we scored.

“Then we had a couple more chances second half, thankfully we took one, and then we thought we could see it out we conceded in the 82nd minute from an aimless ball to the edge of our box and not picking up a second ball.”

Coleman praised the job being done by Shrimpers boss Jim Bentley and assistant Ken McKenna, adding: “It’s a tribute to their people, man-management and managerial skills and their knowledge of football that Morecambe aren’t fighting against relegation like other teams who have gone through financial crisis’.”