JOHN Coleman is hoping to have an impact on the League One promotion pack tomorrow.

His only regret is that Accrington Stanley are not in the mix themselves.

Leaders Rotherham United are the visitors at the Wham Stadium - level on 57 points with second placed Coventry City but leading the pack on goal difference.

Indeed, just six points separate the top eight.

A winless January, which included four defeats, put paid to any chance of a promotion push for Stanley. The remit now is getting to the coveted 50 points landmark for safety, and after three wins on the spin momentum is with them.

“Consistency is more important than ever,” said Coleman. “You only have to look at Wycombe. They had a great start, bit of a dip but have come back quite strong.

“That’s a manager’s Holy Grail, consistency. And the one thing that I still insist you need is luck.

“When you’ve got luck and you’ve got good players who play well you propel and you go forward very quickly.”

Asked whether he would consider a 16-point gap between themselves and the bottom three enough to be safe, Coleman said: “No, not at all.

“If we put another 11 points on our total I think we might be safe.

“That’s what we will be battling for, to try to get to 50 points.

“There are a lot of freak things that have been going on in the last couple of years so I think 50 will make sure you are safe.”

Of the top end, Coleman added: “It’s very close.

“The last time that a team came here that was top was Ipswich and we won that game.

“There are a lot of teams vying for those automatic (promotion) spots so it’s going to be really interesting come May to see who gets them, who ends up in the play-offs, who goes up in the play-offs.

“We are just disappointed that a poor January has cost us really any chance of making those play-offs.”

Following Storm Dennis it promises to be another wet and windy weekend if the weather forecast is anything to go by. And despite the drama Coleman would not mind it leading to the same result as last week - when the Reds came back three times to beat Lincoln City 4-3 in the last minute at the Wham Stadium.

“You can’t account for what happened last week,” said the Stanley boss. “I would take another one of them, definitely, winning 4-3.

“If the wind dies down you can get a decent game of football, but actually we got a decent game of football the other day possibly because of the wind.

“It was exciting.”

He added: “But generally wind is one thing that spoils any sport.

“Your style of football can definitely alter.”

Coleman admits the recent weather conditions have made it difficult for everyone.

“You get out there, you get very wet,” he said.

“Obviously we haven’t got a training pitch so we use the 3G at the Hub, which we are grateful for to be fair.

“And the lads do put it (the effort) in. They appreciate the difficulties that we’ve got and they make the most of it.

“We aren’t the only club in the country suffering from the rain and winds and the storms.

“It’s part and parcel. Football’s an outdoor sport, you’ve got to take the elements and get with it.

“You have to train in it to get used to it.”