PAUL Mullin believes Accrington Stanley could provide their play-off hopes with a real boost over the festive period as they prepare to visit another of his old clubs this afternoon.

Stanley travel to the Globe Arena to take on Morecambe and Mullin has featured on both sides of the Lancashire derby in recent years.

The 37-year-old, who is Stanley’s all-time leading appearance maker and later spent two seasons with Morecambe, will be watching on from afar this season after a back injury forced him to retire from professional football in April.

But he continues to follow the fortunes of both clubs and has been pleased to see Stanley’s recent form, which has seen them climb to 13th in League Two after three straight wins.

That has put them only two places and two points behind Morecambe, who had been the early league leaders this term.

And Mullin is not ruling out Stanley making a play-off challenge, a season after they similarly rose from the bottom half to reach the top seven at the end of the campaign.

“It’s definitely still possible because there’s really not a lot between that middle band of clubs in League Two,” said Mullin, who now works as a chartered financial planner, advising a whole range of players on pensions.

“I haven’t really been to games this season but Accrington and Morecambe are the two results I always look out for, the only ones really.

“Accrington lost players in the summer so it does take time to gel, I know they brought a few loan signings in and not all of them worked out but they look like they have found the right balance now.

“It’s about putting yourself in the position towards the end of the season and then if you can put three or four wins together you can climb the table because in March and April you get clubs who start to get a bit jittery.

“This period over Christmas and New Year is important because there are a lot of games and if you lose them you can slip back towards the bottom and things don’t look as good, but if you win them you can get yourselves into a good position.”

Stanley are unbeaten in nine matches against Morecambe, the club with which boss John Coleman once enjoyed great success as a striker.

Despite playing for both sides during that period, however, Mullin is at a loss to explain why Accrington have had the upper hand to such an extent.

“Certainly in the four games I played for Morecambe against Accrington we didn’t get much out of them,” he said.

“I’ve no idea why, sometimes it’s just the way it goes. John Coleman wants to win any game but he’s a legend there, he scored a lot of goals for Morecambe and I’m sure it’s a special fixture for him.

“But I know Jim Bentley (Morecambe’s manager) well too and he really doesn’t like losing, so he will be telling his players how important it is to get a result. It will be a tough game.”

And Mullin insists that both club’s respective league positions during the current campaign are an achievement that should not be overlooked.

“I have visited a few clubs in League Two with the PFA pension scheme and the facilities they have are really good,” he said.

“There are some clubs who shouldn’t be in this league, so it’s great credit to Accrington and Morecambe that they’re doing as well as they are doing.

“Both clubs are punching above their weight.

“How well they are doing cannot be underestimated.”