JOHN Coleman says there is never a better time to join Accrington Stanley.

Improvements and investment both on and off the pitch means the club is now in a strong position to move forward.

Sunday’s 1-0 win saw Stanley finish in 11th place in League One - the club’s highest ever finish since 1958.

And with Coleman told he has no need to sell star players like Dion Charles and Colby Bishop, he says Stanley can now ‘reach for the stars’.

“It couldn’t be a better time to come to Accrington,” said Coleman. “We are beginning to attract top players from top clubs. We have got a new training ground for the first time in 20 years with a 100 year lease so that is not going to be taken from us.

“The ground is being totally renovated. I’m getting a new office, the pitch is getting done.”

He added: “We’ve been told by the chairman that we don’t need to sell so everything is in place for us to go forward.

“So instead of looking over our shoulders we could be reaching for the stars.”

Stanley boss John Coleman

Stanley boss John Coleman

Coleman knows that if the price was right then some players may be sold but he has the backing of owner Andy Holt.

“Myself and Andy are on the same page and, if we think the best business sense is to sell a player for the good of the club, that’s what we will do and it doesn’t matter who the player is,” he told the club website.

“They are educated decisions, made with the interest of the club whereas in the past we had to sell to survive and that’s not the case anymore.

“That means you get the market value, the starting price for our top players now is well over a million.”

Coleman could be forgiven for putting his feet up for a few weeks but he insists he will get little rest over the summer as he looks to do a bit of ‘wheeling and dealing’ for the 2021/22 campaign.

“I’d like a rest but I don’t think I can have that because I have got quite a bit of transfer business to do,” he added.

“I’d like to get that sorted as soon as possible because I want to start pre-season with a squad I know that is settled going forward.

“You have got to do a lot of wheeling and dealing. I like to have control of everything football related at the club and I think that is the best way forward for our club so ultimately I am in control of recruitment that’s why I won’t get too many easy days in the summer.”

Looking back at the Covid-hit campaign without fans, Coleman feels there is plenty to build on for when the supporters return to the Wham Stadium.

“There have been some smashing games this season – recently the second half against Sunderland, more or less the whole game against Portsmouth, the game we lost to Plymouth where we were outstanding, the character we showed against Ipswich going down to ten men and being the better team in the second half with ten men.

“Earlier in the season, there was going to Charlton and winning and beating Peterborough on the opening day of the season, there’s been some really big points in this season where we have played some terrific football,” he said. “The players look full of confidence and hopefully we can take that into next season.”