MARK Hughes believes Accrington Stanley's momentum can carry them into League One - if they can make up a four point and five place gap to the play-offs this month.

John Coleman's side have pieced together a 13 game unbeaten run to climb from the lower reaches of League Two to the cusp of the top seven ahead of Good Friday's trip to Blackpool.

And Hughes, who was part of the Stanley side which missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference before falling in the play-offs to eventual winners and seventh place finishers AFC Wimbledon, believes the shoe would be on the other foot if the Reds were to extend their season.

“Making the play-offs from where we were at the start of the year would be a bigger achievement than finishing fourth last season for me,” said Hughes who scored twice in the 3-2 comeback win over Crewe on Saturday.

“Possibly last season it was a disappointment to be in the play-offs and Wimbledon were happy to be there. We’d have that mentality now if we were to make it.

“It’s still difficult, we still have a lot to do to get there but we have a huge game coming up and if we can win it we can make a big stride towards that top seven. We have to believe that.”

The Reds travel to Blackpool, who are two points ahead of Stanley in eighth, on Friday before welcoming Crawley Town to the Wham Stadium on Easter Monday.

And with games against promotion chasing Luton Town and Stevenage still to come, as well as a trip to a Newport County side battling the drop, the Reds' run-in is a tricky one.

But Hughes is hopeful the Reds can build on their Crewe comeback.

“It’s all about momentum and when you have it you just have to keep it going," said the defender speaking to Stanley's website. "It was a massive game to win but you immediately look at the next one. Friday could be the make or break game for us.

“Fair play to Crewe. They came and had a go at us and we hadn’t really encountered the kind of system they played and it worked for them. There were a few harsh words at half time and we could’ve either gone one way or the other.

“You don’t go 12 games unbeaten for nothing and we showed that and responded.

"Once we got one we got the second pretty quickly and as the game wore on I think there was only going to be one winner.

"Their keeper made a couple of great saves and at the end I was able to get the goal and we saw it out pretty well.”