JOHN Coleman wants Accrington Stanley to make sure their point at Shrewsbury Town is a good one when they host MK Dons on Saturday.

Playing in front of fans for the first time this season, Joe Pritchard’s free-kick put the Reds in front in Tuesday night's 2-2 draw.

Aaron Pierre headed new boss Steve Cotterill’s side level before a free-kick from former Stanley man Shaun Whalley four minutes from time had seemingly handed the home side all three points.

But there was late drama as after Pierre was penalised for a foul on Michael Nottingham, Ryan Cassidy saw his penalty saved by Matija Sarkic only to convert the rebound deep into stoppage time.

Coleman, full of praise for the performance of old boy Whalley, praised his side’s character for taking something from the game when they were not at their best.

He said: “I’m relieved really. We didn’t play particularly well.

“We had flashes where we were on top, but they were on top for a big spell in the second half and then the odd time that we did break into their half we did cause them problems.

“Shaun Whalley, I’ve known since he was a kid. Cracking lad, great footballer, and he was brilliant tonight.

"He was a thorn in our side all night and scored a cracking free-kick.

“We’re a bit disappointed having gone in front, and I thought we were the better team for the first 20 minutes as well, we’ve given them such a shot of adrenaline.

“We’ve more or less gifted them a goal really. We worked on a lot of free-kicks yesterday and then we’ve conceded from one, which is disappointing.

“To concede two goals from set plays is very disappointing.

"To have the character to come back and get the draw, which could turn out to be a good point, given that all the teams around us have been dropping points left, right and centre, it could turn out to be a good point – but then it puts more pressure on us for Saturday.”

Stanley’s strong start to the season sees them ninth in the League One table and just two points shy of the play-off spots.

Coleman’s men have games in hand on all the sides around them as they continue to play catch up having seen their season briefly halted due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the club.