CONNOR Ripley wants Accrington Stanley to chalk off their first home win in League One this weekend, to help them reach the heights he feels they are capable of.

The goalkeeper admits he was expecting to embark on a survival mission when he first joined the club on a season-long loan from Middlesbrough last month.

But the 25-year-old says he has been pleasantly surprised by the standard of player and brand of football that he has seen at the Wham Stadium. And he sees no reason why the club should not be pushing for a top six finish, just a season after winning the League Two title.

“When I first came in I thought it was going to be an Oldham kind of season for me, try to keep them up. But in the time I’ve been here I really don’t think that’s the case, I think the ambition is play-offs,” said Ripley, whose dad is former Blackburn Rovers and England winger Stuart.

“It could be just me having my head in the clouds but I really do think we can do it. I don’t see us dropping down into a relegation battle. I think with the players we’ve got and the style of play is brilliant, so why can’t we? It’s 11 men versus 11 men, why can’t we get in the play-offs?

“I’m really up for it and I’m really excited for what this club can do.

“I was naive coming here thinking that coming up from League Two they aren’t going to be playing proper football but I think we’ve been bopping people off the park and it’s been great. It’s been a breath of fresh air because a few clubs I’ve been to on loan we haven’t really been a footballing team. So when I came here and it’s been like this, I was ecstatic with it.

“I’m happy where I am and I think we’re going to do big things this season.”

But, ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Burton Albion - one of Ripley’s former loan clubs - the stopper stressed getting that first home league win was vital to their ambitions.

“I think it’s crucial, I think mainly for the fans as well because the fans don’t want to watch draws, they want to see the wins and three points on the board and so do we. We want to win,” he said.

“It will be crucial to get these three points because I think we could get a bit of momentum going and if you get momentum in this league you can do something special, as you saw with Plymouth last season. They were rock bottom around Christmas and came close to the play-offs.

“It’s one of those things where if you can get a run of results you can really do something.”

Ripley added: “I really do believe this club can do special things this season and get in the play-offs and hopefully get promoted.

“It would be amazing if a little team like Accrington could get into the Championship, one league below the Premier League. That’s what dreams are made of.

“I do have my head in the clouds sometimes but I don’t see why it can’t happen with the players we’ve got. I see them in training every day and I really do believe we’ve got the potential to do something.

“We’re eighth in the league now, I know it’s only six games in but stats show that when you have a good start normally you stay around that area and I don’t see why we can’t.”