JOHN Coleman admitted he had to take some of the credit for Joe Jacobson’s winning goal as Accrington Stanley overcame local rivals Bury on Saturday.

Left back Jacobson is not renowned for his heading skills but the on-loan Oldham man nodded in the only goal of the game from a 77th-minute corner at the Crown Ground.

It was the 24-year-old’s first senior goal for three years and lifted Stanley up five places to 13th in the League Two table.

And Jacobson would not have been in the box at all had Coleman not waved him forward because centre back Kevin Long was struggling with an injury.

“Anyone who was around the bench will know that I was the one who sent Joe Jacobson up front for a one-off!” Coleman laughed.

“Kevin was feeling a knock so we wanted to get another body in there. I just felt it would be better keeping Dean Winnard back for his pace.

“Joe’s gone in under the radar and it was a great finish. It’s fantastic for him to score, although he scored a great volley here in the reserves for Oldham against us.

“He had a particularly good game as well. Take the goal away and he defended really well.”

Bury went into the game 13 places above Stanley in the table, having beaten them 3-0 at Gigg Lane in October.

But Coleman was pleased with the way his side bounced back from the disappointment of Monday’s 2-2 home draw with Chesterfield, when a set piece lapse cost them as the visitors grabbed two goals in the dying minutes.

“I’m delighted for the lads because no-one felt it more than them after Chesterfield,” said the Reds boss.

“I know I spat my dummy out but only because I was so disappointed for them.

“We worked on a few things in training, they took everything we said on board and the pleasing thing was in the last minute we defended the same free kick and defended it really well.

“That’s credit to the players that they took on board what we said and even with tired legs after three hard games in a week, they battled through it.

“I think we deserved to win. Bury are a good side but we limited them, we defended well, we scored a goal and we had a couple of chances also in the first half.

“These games can go either way. We could have nicked it, they could have nicked it. Thankfully it was us who got the goal. We wanted to remain focused and banish any negative thoughts.”