ACCRINGTON Stanley will win automatic promotion from League Two with a win over Exeter on Saturday after a third successive 1-0 victory and a seventh triumph in a row saw them take all three points at Colchester.

Billy Kee’s 23rd goal of the season was enough at the Weston Homes Community Stadium as the Reds preserved their three point lead at the top of the table.

John Coleman’s team weren’t at their best but found a way to win to bring the finish line into sight.

Goalkeeper Aaron Chapman returned to the side after a car accident saw him miss the win over Notts County and he was rarely troubled in the first half.

Stanley set about keeping things tight early on, limiting United to virtually no chances.

What was created came from the visitors, with Callum Johnson heading over from a Sean McConville corner and Mark Hughes forcing Sam Walker into a fine save when he met a Jordan Clark cross.

Clark was a creative spark, controlling a Hughes cross and spinning before laying the ball to captain Seamus Conneely to shoot wide of the left post.

The first half had been a poor spectacle and the home side set about improving after the interval, making the early running.

Courtney Senior shot wide from range before Drey Wright seized on a loose pass from Janoi Donacien, burst into the area and drove in a shot which Chapman had to turn around the post.

Stanley dealt with the early pressure though and began to test Walker again. Kayden Jackson broke away and went it alone, forcing Walker to save with his legs, and Kee shot straight at the keeper from the edge of the area.

The goal came in bizarre circumstances just after the hour mark. Clark’s cross from the right side looked like it would be dealt with comfortably by Walker but the keeper pushed the ball out, it ricocheted off Kee and looped into the back of the net. It was a suitably untidy goal for an ugly game.

Breaking the deadlock gave the Reds a new lease of life and they could have had more soon after. Kee set Jackson in behind the defence and his strike partner brought the best out of Walker with a left foot shot before Kee himself went closer still. Johnson’s swashbuckling right wing run released Jackson and he cut the ball back for the Reds top scorer inside the area but his left foot effort was parried behind for a corner by Walker.

Colchester tried to force an equaliser but struggled to trouble Chapman. Wright saw a shot deflected to the keeper before Mikael Mandron headed over, but the more they committed men forward the more they were vulnerable to the counter.

Jackson raced into the box but was denied by the home keeper as Stanley saw the game out.

It was a fifth clean sheet in seven attempts by Stanley and keeps them three clear of Luton with a game in hand but more importantly only Lincoln and Exeter can deny them a top three spot.

A win at the Wham Stadium against the Grecians in their next game will put both of those sides out of contention and send the Reds to the third tier.