JOHN Coleman has told his Stanley players not to rest on their laurels after climbing into the top half of League Two.
The Reds won 1-0 at Mansfield last Saturday to maintain their 100 per cent record since Coleman’s return to the Stanley hotseat.
Three straight wins, including two clean sheets, have sent Stanley up to 11th – within two points of the play-off places.
And Coleman has shown his determination not to let that momentum slip by bringing both Lee Molyneux and Anthony Barry back to the club on loan.
“When quality players come available and they fit the bill, you have to try to sign them,” he said.
“You can’t keep adding players – that’ll probably be the end of it for now – because you’ve got to let them all get settled in and see how they do.
“We have to keep trying to progress, keep striving to improve, and the players realise that.
“I don’t want us to sit back because as soon as you do that, that’s normally when you start to struggle.”
Stanley now host a struggling Dagenham & Redbridge side aiming to register four straight wins for the first time since December 2011 – just before Coleman left for Rochdale.
“It’s a different proposition,” added the Reds’ boss. “In the last three games there was no pressure.
“Now we’re the favourites and for the first time we’re under pressure to win.
“I watched Dagenham last Friday and they’re a good attacking side, they play some good football, so they can arguably be more dangerous than the sides we played in the last three games.
“You can’t look at the table and presume we’ll beat them because it doesn’t happen like that. We certainly won’t be taking anything for granted.”
Coleman kept a number of his fringe players fresh by playing them in Tuesday night's Lancashire Senior Cup defeat by Manchester United.
“We played well, it could have gone either way,” said Coleman.
“We pressed them well and looked a good side. I used the lads that hadn’t had a lot of game-time so it was a useful exercise.”
