ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman has revealed his senior players have been driving home the Reds 'project promotion' message to the rest of the squad in a bid to ensure a top three spot in League Two this term.

Stanley currently sit fourth in the table, a point and a place off the automatic promotion places but with a game in hand on the rest of the top seven.

Coleman's men travel to Cheltenham tomorrow on an afternoon when six of the remaining top nine sides face each other.

The Whaddon Road visit therefore represents a chance to make progress and the Reds boss has been delighted with his side's attitude having responded to a disappointing end to 2017 with back to back wins.

He said: "They have shown a lot of desire and that has been no shock to me, we have been speaking about it and I know the players have been outwardly showing that they wanted to improve.

"It is no secret that four or five of the senior players have been harassing the other players to focus on trying to get promoted this year and hopefully they get what they deserve."

Victory at Cheltenham would see Stanley win three league games on the spin for the first time this season and Coleman knows that momentum will play a crucial role in the fight for promotion given the congested nature of the League Two table.

"I didn't realise we hadn't won three in a row in this season," added the Reds boss. "It would be good if we could do it and with teams playing each other around us it would be a great boost for us.

"All the play-off places being separated on goal difference tells you everything you need to know.

"And what that means is every time you play there is a good chance that the others around you are playing each other. So on Saturday for example there is six of the top nine involved with each other.

"You have to keep your nose clean and pick up points. That bad last month where we lost four league games on the spin just two or three points might have really lifted us."

"It is going to be like that for rest of the season, there are going to be twists and turns.

"I would bite your hand off if we could finish this season like we finished last season, that would probably see us go automatically.

"There will be six or seven who think they could go up automatically and we have to make sure we are one of them.