John Coleman admits he would have loved a game this weekend after the 7-1 victory over Bolton – but a free weekend means he has longer to prepare for what he describes as a ‘huge’ game at Tranmere Rovers.

The Reds got knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup by Crewe and so are without a match this weekend.

After chalking up their fourth League One win of the season with the emphatic victory over Wanderers, Coleman will have to be patient as he looks to keep the momemtum going.

He is now fully focused on Micky Mellon’s side, who are two points behind 17th placed Stanley but have a game in hand. The pair meet at Prenton Park a week on Saturday.

“You do want to try and follow the Bolton win up so it is frustrating but it gives us a chance to prepare in even more detail for the Tranmere game,” said the Reds boss.

“It’s huge, when we face teams who are in and around us we have got to try and do as well as we can.

“Tranmere have just hit a bit of form, they had a good win against Wycombe in FA Cup with ten men away from home and they were unlucky not to get anything out of the Fleetwood game last week.

“We know it will be tough but we know when we get it right we can be tough for anyone.”

Coleman now hopes his side, who were one of the lowest scorers in the league before they hit seven, have found their goalscoring boots.

Colby Bishop, Sean McConville and Offrande Zanzala scored two each while Dion Charles grabbed the other.

“I always knew we had it in us to score seven goals in a game,” continued the Reds boss.

“There has been plenty of games where we have had 25/28 shots on goal, not so many on target, but there had to be a time when the ball started going in the net and thankfully on Saturday it was.”

He admitted he was relieved to see McConville get off the mark in the league this season as the winger has said himself he hasn’t hit his best form in this campaign.

“Maybe getting left out the week before did Sean the world of good, it give him the jolt and the dose of reality that he needed.

“He knows the standards that he has got to play too. He has always been one of our main threats over the last three or four years so for him not to score a league goal this season is disappointing but I am sure it will boost his confidence no end.”

Bishop, signed from non-league in the summer, now has nine goals for the campaign.

“I have said to Colby he should be leading goalscorer in the league but you can’t focus on what has gone on in the past you have got to focus on going forward and he is a good lad Colby, he is still learning his trade and hopefully he will get better.

“It’s was also great for Ozzy to get two quickfire goals – his career has been stop-start with us since he has joined and he needs to just get a run of fitness. I think the ability is there, I maintain that, sometimes his concentration levels drop but it was nice for him to score and Dion Charles deserved a goal for all his efforts on Saturday, it's always nice when your forwards score."

And what will the manager do with his spare Saturday?

“I will probably go and watch a game, a non-league game, as there are a couple of players I want to run the rule over.”