STANLEY defender Kieran Charnock is building up to a must-win game as the Reds take on bottom club Luton tomorrow.
After starting the season with a 30 point deduction, the Hatters are up to two points - 25 behind Stanley with over half the campaign gone.
While it is a big ask for Luton to catch up, Bournemouth - who started on minus 17 - are also looking to close the gap and it is vital the Reds get some breathing space between themselves and the bottom two.
Stanley have just two wins in their last 12 matches and the Reds defender says three points are vital tomorrow - and then carry it on at home to Brentford on Tuesday.
“It is a massive game for us,” said Charnock, who is on loan from Peterborough until the end of the season and made his Stanley debut against Luton in October - the Reds’ last away win.
“Bournemouth are the bigger threat but if Luton win tomorrow it could give them hope while we need to make sure we win to increase the gap.
“It is absolutely massive for us - a must-win game.”
While Luton are “struggling”, if they hadn’t had the points deduction, they would be above the Reds in the table.
“I think people forget that,” continued centre half Charnock. “They will see Luton at the bottom and assume we should beat them but they are a decent side.
“I made my debut against them at Luton and we won but since then it has been hit and miss for us.
“We have been on a poor run but we did win against Morecambe recently and now we need another win.
“Our main priority is survival in the league. I think when I first came here, I was mainly concentrating on getting games under my belt as it was just a month’s loan.
“But now I have been here a few months and I am thinking more about the club and the position we are in.
“And, no matter what happens next season for me, I want to make sure Accrington are a league club at the end of this season.”
Defensive lapses have cost the Reds in their last two games with defeats at league leaders Wycombe and play-off chasers Shrewsbury. And Charnock admits the Reds do need to cut out the errors.
“Personally when I make a mistake that leads to a goal, I am disappointed and think about it long after the game.
“But you have to get on with it - no one does it on purpose and everyone does make them. The only thing is we, as a club, seem to be punished when we do it - every mistake seems to end in a goal.
“We are trying to cut them out and be more positive and it’s important we do it tomorrow. The gaffer started building the game up straight after Tuesday’s defeat and we know what we have got to do.”
The other thing defender Charnock has noticed is Stanley’s treatment by some referees.
“Coming from a different club, it does seem to me that a lot more things are given against Accrington,” said the 24-year-old.
“I suppose when I was at Peterborough it seemed to be the other way and things go for you when you are at the top of the table and they go against you when you are bottom.
“But I was up against Grant Holt from Shrewsbury on Tuesday and he is a good player. He has his arms up and backing in and that’s normal in games, but a lot of the times the foul was given against me.
“Then you look at Paul Mullin for us and he must be the most fouled against player in the league and he hardly ever gets anything. We just don’t seem to get a lot.”
After Luton, the Reds take on automatic promotion chasing Brentford on Tuesday - who beat Shrewsbury comfortably last Saturday but then suffered a shock loss to Morecambe on Tuesday.
“This league is strange,” added Charnock. “We played Wycombe and I didn’t think they were very impressive yet they are top of the league.
“I think the reason they are there is that they are well-organised and disciplined.
“Looking back, if MK Dons or Peterborough were in the league this season, I think they would be running away with it.
“No one is standing out for me.”
Meanwhile, boss John Coleman echoed his defender’s sentiments about tomorrow’s Luton clash.
“It is a massive game and I have been building it up to the players because of its importance,” said the Reds boss.
“We will be working on the pattern and shape we want to play and hopefully we will carry it out better than we did against Shrewsbury.”
BLACKBURN striker Jamie Clarke, on loan at Stanley earlier this season, has gone to Rotherham until the end of the season while Rovers midfielder Rostyn Griffiths has linked up with FC Adelaide.
Ex-Red Shaun Whalley has gone on loan to Southport from Wrexham.
