Stanley players and coaching staff spent more than three hours this week going over last weekend’s miserable first half against Ipswich Town.

The Reds were beaten 4-1 at Portman Road, but trailed 3-0 at the break, with boss John Coleman branding his side’s performance as unacceptable.

It was a second successive loss for Stanley, after a 2-1 home reverse to Rochdale, and Coleman hopes the Ipswich defeat doesn’t lead to a ‘crisis’.

Coleman won the December manager of the month award after the Reds enjoyed a fine end to 2019, and he will be eyeing a response when Southend arrive at the Wham Stadium tomorrow.

“We sat down and watched the first half, which is ultimately where the game was lost,” he said.

“That took us the best part of three-and-a-half hours to dissect that one half, it was a good, frank, open discussion.

“There was lots of input from the players and staff and hopefully we can put a process in place where we can learn from it.

“You have to hope that was the case, a lot of players not firing and Ipswich being very buoyant and up for the game.

“I hear the stories of how well Ipswich are doing, but they have won two in 12.

“We’ve got to make sure this doesn’t a become a crisis. We lost to Rochdale when if we play that game nine times over we’d win, but if we play like we did against Ipswich then we won’t win again.

“We have got to get back to winning ways and that will come down to hard work and people understanding their role within the team.

“But we would have had eight or nine who were below par. If you get that, it’s virtually impossible to win a game.”

Coleman won’t allow his players to dwell on the defeat however, and admits their good form should still be fresh in their minds, and give them reason to be optimistic.

They collected 11 points from a possible 15 in an unbeaten December, as well as qualifying for the last eight of the Leasing.com Trophy.

And Coleman added: “You have to learn from it, remember it, remember the feeling but you can’t wallow in self-pity.

“You have to get on with it and be positive going forward.

“We can’t forget the Portsmouth game, the Bolton game, the Burton game, they are fresh in our minds still, that’s what we have to try and emulate and not worry about what’s gone on.”