JOHN Coleman couldn’t bring himself to look when he had his COVID jab on Monday - his theory being “if you don’t look it doesn’t hurt”.

As it turned out, defeat away to Crewe the following night proved more painful.

That has not stopped the Accrington Stanley manager looking back over the footage, but in general terms he is only intent on looking forward.

"We've licked our wounds over (Tuesday), we've reviewed the game, and now we move on to Saturday," said Coleman.

"If you dwell on the past you'll stay in the past, and we don't want to stay in the past, we want to go into the future."

That starts with tomorrow's trip to Fleetwood Town, and one thing Coleman learnt from assessing the damage from Tuesday at Gresty Road is that they need to stop being the architects of their own downfall.

“We have got to eliminate silly mistakes. If you look at the last six or seven goals we have conceded, probably five of them have been down to howlers really, mistakes that are avoidable.

“When you look at the first goal back at Crewe it was like Keystone Cops and you can’t plan for that happening.

“The players have got to take the responsibility to stop it happening, they have to get more organised amongst themselves.

“I have said it before, I think our coaches are under-rated, they put in some great work with our players but once they cross the line you can’t dictate what they do in individual situations and too often we have made mistakes and been punished.

“When we get it right, we go forward, run ourselves into the ground, we generally have a good chance of winning.

“When all our players get 7s, 8s and 9s we win. Could you honestly say our players got those marks on Tuesday? No.

“You would be struggling to find anyone who got over a 7 so you can blame outside variables – referee, pitches, wind – but you have to look at what you can control yourself and that’s how you play, the style, the ethos, the system, the formation, the courage to get on the ball, the passion and determination. If you get them right you get the rewards.

“That’s why we have to move forward. If you dwell too much on a defeat you get a negative vibe around the place and you don’t go into the next game with a spring in your step and we have always believed in going into the next game with a spring in our step and trying to attack and that’s what we will do on Saturday.”

Stanley will come face-to-face with former Reds Janoi Donacien and Sam Finley. Versatile defender Donacien left for Ipswich Town in the summer of 2018, initially on loan, before returning on loan just a fortnight after completing a £750,000 permanent move to the Tractorboys in January 2019. He joined Fleetwood on loan in January, while Finley joined the Cod Army after leaving Stanley by mutual consent in September last year amid a 10-match ban, eight of which were for 'using abusive or insulting language' which 'included a reference to nationality' during Stanley's New Year's Day defeat to Rochdale.

“Janoi is a cracking lad, I love him to bits and I want him to do brilliantly in his career just not on Saturday!," smiled Coleman.

“He gave his all for us and that’s all you ask for. You sell them on and pat them on the back because it’s a two-way process, a win-win, the club got good money for him and he gave us unbelievable service.

“Sam Finley, I watched him come on last week and he was very very good and we all know what Sam can do if he plays.”

Harvey Rodgers is suspended following his red card against Crewe on Tuesday, but Coleman is hoping to have Ben Barclay, Joe Pritchard and Paul Smyth available after injury.