STANLEY boss John Coleman believes his players have got the ‘bit between their teeth’ as they seek to secure promotion from League Two.

The Reds were without a game at the weekend after their Wham Stadium clash with Yeovil was called off due to the Glovers’ international commitments.

Although Luton Town won to leapfrog Stanley at the top of the table on goal difference, Coleman’s side have two games in hand and they saw fellow promotion rivals Notts County and Wycombe Wanderers drop points.

Stanley now have an eight-point cushion in the automatic promotion places and it’s their form since Boxing Day, taking 37 points from a possible 42, that has fuelled their surge up the table.

Now they have taken the role of favourites, Stanley are facing a different kind of pressure.

“Without a doubt, we’ve told them they’re there to be shot at now, teams are going to want to knock you off the perch,” said Coleman.

“We’ve just got to keep going. We’ve got to embrace the pressure, enjoy it and enjoy working hard. When you work hard and get the results at the end of the game it makes you want to go and do it again. 

“The players have got the bit between their teeth, they’ve been like that since Christmas.”

The win at Luton earlier this month sent Stanley top and they are now title contenders as well as promotion favourites.

The remarkable run has quashed any hopes Coleman had of his side continuing to fly under the radar.

But he’s confident in the ability of his players to keep working hard to try and make the end of the season a successful one, with six wins from the final nine games of the season required to secure promotion for the Reds.

“I’d like to go under the radar until we get promoted. There’s a long way to go yet. We’ve got big games coming up home and away,” said Coleman, whose side face Mansfield, in seventh, and Notts County, in fourth, over Easter.

“But we’ve got players who want to work hard.”

Coleman has kept changes to a minimum during this run of form and has also used his bench sparingly. 

“We’ve used the same 11 three or four times on the bounce,” he said.

“We haven’t made a sub, that’s no disrespect to the lads on the bench, but these boys have been giving everything. You can only keep thanking them for it and hope they don’t run out of steam.”