Michael Symes returns to his former club tomorrow aiming to shoot down the Shrews and maintain Accrington Stanley’s promotion push.

But manager John Coleman is keeping his fingers crossed that his strike star will not be playing his last game for the Reds when he leads the line at Shrewsbury Town’s Prostar Stadium.

The 26-year-old 14-goal Symes is League Two’s hottest property with Preston North End the latest in an increasing line of clubs to show an interest.

And while a bid from Deepdale in imminent, it is unlikely to come ahead of the game meaning Symes will get the chance to further enhance his reputation against Paul Simpson’s men as Stanley aim to tame the Shrews, who are unbeaten in five games.

“Michael Symes is a great talent,” said Coleman. “He works the line so well and causes problems to defences every game he plays.

“He has had one or two problems in the past but he has not been settled at a lot of his clubs.

“But now you can see that he has had a decent run in the team and everyone is feeling the benefit.

“He is scoring goals and there is bound to be interest when a lad is scoring goals and we’ll have to see if anything develops.

“Michael Symes will carry on scoring goals and I really hope he carries on scoring and playing the way he is playing for us.”

Grimsby had two bids for Symes knocked back earlier this month, while Preston’s interest emerged on Tuesday night as they watched him in action again in the win over Aldershot Town.

But Darren Ferguson will have to get the chequebook out, especially with Coleman comparing Symes to Pele.

“On Tuesday some of his control was comparable to Pele,” said Coleman.

“He was bringing balls down that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of trying to bring down.”

Symes and Bobby Grant will look to shoot down the Shrews tomorrow but Coleman is also supremely confident in the abilities of his back-up men to perform if called upon.

Billy Kee won Tuesday’s game with the Shots just 61 seconds after coming on as a substitute and the manager is a fan of the on-loan Leicester City youngster.

“Some people tried to say that I could take the credit for the winning goal on Tuesday,” said Coleman. “He scored within two minutes of me putting him on – but that is down to him, not me.

“Billy is a good player and will create chances – and he is a shining example to any young lads trying to make their way in the game.

“He is learning the game and has recovered from any little knocks to his confidence.

“When he doesn’t play, he doesn’t get down – he just gets on with his job.”

Darran Kempson is available again after completing his one-match ban and Coleman has no injury worries.

Kempson could return to the centre of defence, although Johnny Flynn performed well when filling in against the Shots.

“Flynn had a good game on Tuesday, he handled it well,” said Coleman.