ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman has backed his attacking players and says he isn’t worried about his side’s recent form in front of goal.

Stanley have slipped down to 18th in the League One table having failed to score in their last two games which have both ended in defeat.

But ex-striker Coleman echoed his empathy towards his front line ahead of Tuesday night's Leasing.com Trophy group game against Liverpool Under-21s at the Wham Stadium.

He said: “You go through periods as a striker.

"I once went 17 games without scoring at Southport. You feel like you’re never going to score again and everything you do goes wrong.

“I remember I broke my duck at home to Bangor and I went on to score four on the Tuesday and two on the Saturday.

"You need a lot of luck and if you use it as an excuse you’ll quickly go downhill. I can empathise with the players.

"People will look at the result and that formulates their opinion.

"There will be some of our fans who didn’t go to Peterborough last week and just saw us lose 4-0 and will want to complain.

“They don’t know the true picture and it’s the same with Saturday against Gillingham. Some of our fans need to take a reality check.”

After having 20 shots on the Gillingham goal without scoring, Coleman admitted improvement is needed in the final third but also praised his team for their dominance in attack in the 1-0 defeat.

“If you’re making chances why would we change?” he said. “Results have never influenced my team. I always pick my team on form and how people play.

“We played quite well on Saturday – we were the better team for long periods of the game.

"You have freak results in football – the chances we made we could have won two or three games.

"I would be a lot more worried if we weren’t making chances, which we are.

He added: “Colby (Bishop) had some poor misses on Saturday, by his standard too, but there is no one more upset than him and we have to channel that frustration to make him a better player.

“The technique of finishing needs to be better and that comes down to practice on the training ground, and we’ll get it right.

"These players are good players and I’m confident eventually we’ll get the rewards in how we play on a consistent basis.”

The boss is confident the struggles in front of goal will be shortlived and defended his players’ work-ethic on the pitch.

“As much as it hurts, you have to go through these spells that we’ve gone through a couple of times already this season," Coleman said.

“We haven’t had too much difficulty scoring this season, so let’s hope it’s a blip.

"We still try to do our best and if we have success or no success, the element of effort and trying won’t be included in the aftermath discussions.”

Coleman revealed an injury boost to his attacking options ahead of the home tie with Liverpool’s youngsters, as Swansea City loanee Courtney Baker-Richardson is set to return to the fold for the Reds.

The 23-year-old started three games for Stanley in August before picking up a groin injury but is now back in training.

“Courtney (Baker-Richardson) is back from injury now and hopefully he can get on a steady run of games where he’s not going to be injured," Coleman said.