SEAMUS Conneely has urged Stanley to turn leads in victories after letting more points slip through their fingers against Blackpool.

John Coleman’s side looked set for all three points in the Lancashire derby after Curtis Tilt’s first half own goal only for Matty Virtue to equalise in the second minute of injury time.

Stanley were denied victory at Wycombe four days earlier by a second half penalty, while Jordan Clark handed them the lead against Sunderland, only for the Black Cats to run out 3-1 winners.

Against Bristol Rovers earlier this month the Reds were 2-1 ahead, but needed a Dion Charles equaliser to rescue a point at the Memorial Stadium.

The draw on Saturday means Stanley have won one and drawn four of their opening nine fixtures which leaves them 19th in the table.

And a frustrated Conneely says that needs to change ahead of this weekend’s trip to bottom of the league Southend.

“I think you can even go back to the last four, we’ve taken the lead in the last four games, we led against Bristol Rovers, we led against Sunderland, led obviously against Wycombe and we’ve led here, and won none of them,” the captain said.

“We’ve got to look at ourselves for that, we’ve always been a good team when we’ve gone in the lead ever since I’ve been here.

“We kind of crave that, going in the lead and getting the opposition to open up against us because you need to when you’re losing, you have to come out more and we can just pick them off. Before the game we might have taken a draw, we want to win our home games but they’re going home happier - their fans are going home much happier.

“We’re going back home feeling flat, it’s a point but it’s another game unbeaten and we’ll focus on Southend now.”

Stanley were the better sides for long spells, but just couldn’t find that crucial second goal to put the game to bed, with Sean McConville going close, while defender Ross Sykes somehow failed to find the back of the net with a first half header.

“We’ve had a couple of chances, we should have gone 2-0, Sean’s done that classic McConville thing where he’s bent one in, and I’m just waiting for the net to bulge, then thinking this is it,” Conneely added.

The 31-year-old is is back in the side following his sending off at Bristol Rovers and was unfortunate to concede the penalty which cost Stanley the win at Bristol Rovers.

Another setback for the team against Simon Grayson’s side is tough to take, but the midfielder says Stanley must respond quickly in their quest to climb the table.

“Obviously it’s very disappointing, I don’t think it was a great game and I don’t think either side performed as well as they would have liked to,” he added.

“One thing we said before the game was that we need a result and we don’t really mind how it comes, when you’re down the bottom like we are, you just need results.

“It seemed to be going to plan, we got a scrappy goal, both sides missed a couple of chances but it looked like we were defending well and they didn’t create a lot in the second half.

“We’ve fallen asleep a little bit and the lad’s bent it in the corner, fair play to him it’s a great finish, a quarter of an inch the other way and it bounces out, but these are the way things go and we’ve got to dust ourselves off and move on.”