STANLEY defender Mark Hughes believes back to back home games give Accrington Stanley the perfect opportunity to climb back into the League Two automatic promotion places.

The Reds saw their winning run ended by Crawley on Saturday and dropped to fifth place as a result.

But John Coleman's side have a game in hand on the top three and with just six points separating second from 10th, Hughes knows momentum is crucial heading into the final 18 games of the season.

“We’ve got to regroup and be ready for two big home games next week," said the 31-year-old. "We’re a team who want to win every game that we play.

“Back-to-back home games on Saturday and Tuesday gives us a chance to make up ground and get back into the top three again, we just have to keep pushing and working hard together.”

The Reds host Stevenage on Saturday before welcoming promotion rivals Swindon Town to the Wham Stadium on Tuesday.

And former Morecambe man Hughes wants to learn the lessons of the Crawley defeat.

“We’re disappointed at the back with the second goal,” he added.

“The lad’s been able to tap it in without much pressure or anybody marking him.

“We know there are areas of our game that we must brush up on but I think anyone who has watched that game will say it could have easily gone either way.

“Our goal was a strange one, it was like a bit of pinball, their defender’s cleared it straight into his own man and it has looped in. I thought here we go again, we can do something like last week.

“In the end we’re a bit disappointed with how we finished, we gave sloppy passes away and didn’t put them under the pressure we wanted to.”

The defeat at the Broadfield Stadium was the second straight game that Stanley had gone two goals down and while they were able to recover to win 3-2 against Port Vale seven days earlier they couldn't repeat the trick against Crawley.

“It was a tough result to take,” Hughes told Stanley's official club website. “Especially to go two down for the second week in succession – we can’t keep doing that.

“We created plenty of chances in the first half, but the first goal is always crucial in this league. They’ve scored the header and kicked on. I thought we had enough of the game to get something from it."