ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman wants his side to finish strong in their bid for promotion from League Two.

The Reds consolidated second place in the table with a 1-0 win over Crewe on Tuesday night courtesy of Kayden Jackson’s winner four minutes before the break.

Stanley, who visit struggling Barnet on Saturday, have reeled off eight wins from their last nine games and sit second in the table, six points behind leaders Luton Town with a game in hand and with a four-point buffer to the play-off places.

Last season the Reds pieced together a 15-game unbeaten run which almost saw them gatecrash the play-offs before two defeats in their final three games saw them fall five points short.

Stanley were beaten in the play-offs in 2016 when they were unbeaten in their last 12 games of the season, with only a final day draw at home to Stevenage preventing the Reds going up automatically.

And Coleman is confident a strong run of form in the second half of this season can lead to promotion glory at the third time of asking.

He said: “We had a great run last year and the year before after Christmas and historically we do finish the season strongly when the lads get to know each other and get to know the style of football and after we do a little bit of tweaking in January in the transfer window.

“We are confident we can do well. We know there is a lot of battles ahead and it is 14 more wars.”

Coleman has often spoken of a two points per game target to secure promotion and although the Reds are just shy of that aim, having accumulated 61 points from 32 games, the Stanley boss is pleased with his side’s progress given they suffered a poor run of form towards the end of last year.

He added: “If someone had told me that we would be past 60 points in mid February I would have bitten your hand off.

“There is a long way to go yet but I think the lads are enjoying the fight.”

Tuesday’s win over Crewe will not live long in the memory but Jackson’s first half finish, and a resilient Reds display, was enough for the three points.

And Coleman was pleased with his side’s battling qualities.

He added: “What really impressed me, and I said to our players that it is probably one of our best wins of the season, because in the last 20 minutes, when we were showing signs of going under, we suddenly found reserves of strength and kept them at arms length. We defended really well in the last 20 minutes.

“I would like to congratulate Crewe, I thought they had a right go and were excellent in the second half.

“The first half was a bit of a non event for both teams. There was not much in it in the first half until we scored.

“In the second half for 25 minutes they battered us, they passed us off the park and played really well in difficult conditions.

“They missed the target with three good chances and on another night they go in.”

Of Jackson’s goal, his second in three games, the Stanley chief said: “It was a great finish and a good move.

“He took it really well and he is always a threat with his pace and his workrate in the second half was very good.”