JOHN Coleman was aiming to complete the loan signing of Blackburn Rovers defender John Flynn as the Observer went to press.

The club paid off around £80,000 of the £140,000 owed to the HMRC on Wednesday and the Football League confirmed that Stanley’s blanket embargo for registering players has been lifted.

This meant they had to move swiftly to snap up the 20-year-old Northern Ireland centre half before yesterday’s loan transfer deadline.

And Coleman was also hoping to sign up a goalkeeper to act as cover for Ian Dunbavin although this meant he would have had to move a player out yesterday.

This is because, although they can now register players, the Reds are still restricted to only having 20 players at the Crown Ground as the club still owes £50,000 to the Professional Footballers Assocation.

"Johnny’s game is a mixture of Darran Kempson’s and Phil Edwards’ and we need cover and competition for places," said Coleman. "He plays in Blackburn reserves and with Billy Kee in Northern Ireland’s Under 21 side and I have watched him a couple of times.

"We do need to add a few more players if we can and I have one or two irons in the fire for goalkeepers. We have looked at our former loan keeper Darren Randolph at Charlton but the problem is that he will be on really good money and we won’t be able to match that. But if we move a player in, we have to move one out at the moment."

Chairman Ilyas Khan, who saved the club from being wound up in November by paying £160,000 of the £308,000 tax bill, has again sent through the money so Coleman can extend his squad.

"I am really pleased that I have been able to work with the club to extinguish that part of the debt which affected player registrations," he said, with the PFA debt expected to be paid in January.

"Not only does this mean that John Coleman has more flexibility, it also continues to establish our bona fides with HMRC and the footballing community as a whole.

"I am also pleased that the various and inevitable complexities that surround these issues could be managed in time by Rob Heys and David O’Neill who have done a good job in this regard."

Coleman hopes to have Flynn signed up until January with a view to it being extended until the end of the season.

And if it all clears in time, Flynn will go straight into the squad for Stanley’s FA¿Cup second round clash at home to League Two rivals Barnet tomorrow.

With £27,000 up for grabs to the winner and the lure of a lucrative third round clash when the top teams enter the competition with the draw made on Sunday, Coleman knows it’s a big game.

"There is a big prize at the end with a win tomorrow - you are in the third round draw but then you never know what you can get in that box. It can be a big team or it can be disappointing but we have got to win tomorrow to give ourselves a fighting chance.

"We have got a home draw, which is what we wanted and, in a way it’s good to have a team in our league as it does ease some of the pressure.

"Playing a team from a lower league means they raise their game as it’s their cup final and it can also lead to complacency even though you do everything to guard against it.

"We have got to make sure we don’t get sidetracked by thinking about the third round though and Barnet will certainly come prepared as they got beat 5-1 in midweek and they will feel they have a point to prove because of that."

Stanley’s game with Macclesfield was postponed due to the weather on Tuesday which leaves the Reds in 17th place in the league.

And the Reds will be looking to build on that on Tuesday when they travel to league new boys Burton Albion, who the Reds have a long-standing rivalry with from their non-league days.

"I think Burton have surprised a few teams this year," said Coleman.

"They have done really well in their first season in the league and have a few players from their non league days.

"Darren Stride is still there and Aaron Webster. He remains the one that got away for me as I think I tried to sign him around five times!"

Stanley midfielder John Mullin (pictured above) is now pushing for a first team place while left back Chris King is close to a start as he recovers from a thigh injury. Leam Richardson and Chris Turner are still a few weeks away.

Meanwhile Macc boss Keith Alexander was disappointed with the late postponement of Tuesday’s match, with the game still to be rearranged.

A tea-time downpour caused the referee to call it off.

"It is frustrating when any game gets called off," said Alexander. "We had been phoning Accrington all day as, given the recent weather, it wouldn’t have been a surprise had it been called off much earlier.

"But we were reassured that unless there was a torrential downpour it was definitely on.

"We were driving to the ground when we got the call. While it was raining, it certainly didn’t strike me as that heavy.

"But we had no say in the matter as the referee had already made his decision and you’re left with a sense of frustration and a degree of anger."

Coleman admitted: "The players were chomping at the bit to play on Tuesday and were really up for the game. We were frustrated too."