ACCRINGTON Stanley will be without Ross Sykes when Coventry visit the Wham Stadium tomorrow.

The Reds are still to decide as to whether Jonny Maxted is able to feature after he received a mild concussion and stitches to the back of the head in Saturday's draw with Oxford.

Stanley's manager praised Maxted with how he's played since the departure of Connor Ripley.

John Coleman admitted certain things could have happened for his side to prevent the Maxted injury.

"There’s only Ross who’s struggling. We’ve had a bit of sickness in the camp this week, we’ve had a couple off ill," said the Reds boss.

"We have to see if Jonny gets cleared. You can say Jonny came off best and that wasn’t too good, we’ll see how he is today and tomorrow.

"We leave it to the doctors. We certainly won’t be doing anything that can endanger the lads at all. I’m not really a medical practitioner, although sometimes I think I am!"

Coleman heaped praise on Maxted as the goalkeeper has taken his chance since Ripley left the club.

"We’ve got plenty of cover – Tony Warner as well and Toby who’s emerging really well from the youth team so it’s not as big an issue as it could have been," said Coleman.

"He’s done really well since Ripley left. He’s grabbed it with both hands, he’s done well in certain games.

"It’s a difficult situation with goalkeepers because you’re either in or you’re out, there’s no grey area. Sometimes when you’re out you’re out for a long time.

"I still think you have to be a different breed to be a keeper anyway. He’s done anything we’ve expected of him."

Coleman thinks Maxted's clash of heads happened because his side let standards slip.

"There’s certain things that can be put in place to stop things like that and we let them slide on Saturday," added Coleman.

"It was poor from a number of things – not just Jonny’s starting position or Ben ducking under the ball. That’s something we have to keep trying with."