JOE Pritchard feels Accrington Stanley's stylish third goal against Swindon Town was a shining example of what they are capable of this season.

The Reds impressed with a fabulous first-half display at The County Ground, where Dion Charles' neat finish at the end of a well-worked move completed a 3-0 win.

Pritchard, on his 50th appearance for the club, was instrumental in the goal - one which manager John Coleman said would have been shown frequently on television had it been scored by Barcelona.

And while the attacking midfielder says Stanley are showing what they are made of, he feels there is even more to come thanks to their work ethic as a team.

“Unbelievable. In the first half we showed some real quality on the ball, we showed that we can score some great goals," said Pritchard, who joined Stanley from Bolton Wanderers in May last year.

“We’ve got a good group and we definitely showed that in the first half. Second half we didn’t play as well, but there’s so much to pick up on and move forward into the next couple of games.

“Credit to every player on the pitch, Toby (Savin) with another clean sheet at the back, he’s such a young keeper but he’s absolutely flying at the moment – so proud of him, and everybody else on the pitch. We dig in together, we work together as a team and when you work together as a team 11 people makes 12. It shows in games like that."

After slipping down the League One table due to missing four fixtures as a result of a coronavirus outbreak in the camp and subsequent two-week shut-down of the club, there were concerns about how long it would take them to make up lost ground.

But while they fell at the first hurdle in the FA Cup on their return to action - after just two days’ training - the Reds have hit the ground running in the league, with back-to-back wins and clean sheets on the road propelling them back up the ladder to 10th, with at least two games in hand on most teams above them.

“Credit to the staff for keeping us going, making us work hard with the sessions they put on for us, and credit to the lads, everybody’s really putting in 110 per cent and it shows on the pitch," said Pritchard, who said Stanley's third goal could not have been more of a contrast to their first - an early own goal by goalkeeper Joe Fryer.

“That’s one of the things I love about football, you can score goals in a team like the first one where it’s a mistake by the keeper, which is a shame for them, but you take them early on all day. And then the third goal, anybody in the world watching football will just admire football like that, how it was played and how that goal was worked. Credit to all the boys that were involved in the move, it was definitely a great goal.

“There were a few passes out wide and I think one of our midfielders pulled out and it made it a little bit harder for them to defend.

“We always talk about getting in pockets and that’s where players can be effective in the attacking third of play, and I just thought if I showed for the ball and I’m always an option and I know where the players are around me I was checking over my shoulders. I think I drove in with the ball, Colby’s good at holding up the play and his link play is fantastic so I thought if I could find the one-two off him, I think there was a bit of a wrestle with one of the centre halves running through, and then obviously the pass that Dion finishes is just basics really, but the move before - brilliant."