Manager James Beattie has challenged his Stanley players to keep climbing the League Two table after managing to get their heads above water.

The Reds won 2-0 at Scunthorpe last weekend to maintain their revival and stretch their unbeaten league run to six matches.

That was enough to lift Stanley out of the bottom two for just the second time this season and the first time in three months.

And with the Reds now playing two home games in the next four days, they have the opportunity to propel themselves away from the drop zone.

“I’m very pleased but no-one’s getting carried away,” said Beattie. “There’s more to come from this group and the more they see what they can do and what they can achieve, the better it’ll be for everybody.

“There’s a long way to go but I’m very pleased with their progress. A few weeks ago we probably wouldn’t have seen that result out at Scunthorpe but they’ve progressed as we all hoped they would do.

“I won’t single anyone out, I’ll do that to their face and to the group,” added the Reds’ boss. “It’s all about the team and the club, and the progression that’s hopefully going on.

“If they keep training as they are and keep conducting themselves in the right manner, I’ve got no worries about where this group can go.”

Defender Rob Atkinson is close to returning from a hamstring injury and with the Stanley squad almost at full strength, Beattie feels his players are beginning to fulfil the potential he saw in them when he assembled his squad in the summer.

“We’re beginning to see signs of it,” he said. “There’s some pleasing aspects that me and the staff will talk about and put over to the players.

“The key things now are concentration, being consistent, and sustaining a level of performance that will bring us points every week.”

Stanley have a great opportunity to claim another three points this Saturday as they host Torquay, the side they leapfrogged at the weekend.

The Gulls enjoyed a successful trip to Lancashire on their last away day, on-loan West Ham striker Paul McCallum scoring twice in a 3-1 win at Bury.

But Alan Knill’s men have since lost 2-0 at home to Rochdale in the FA Cup and then to Chesterfield last Saturday.

That victory at Bury is therefore the only game Torquay have won in their last nine – and they’ve lost six of the others to slip behind the Reds on goal difference.

What’s more, they’re up against a Stanley squad which is now brimming with in-form strikers.

George Bowerman scored his first goal for the club at Scunthorpe while Kayode Odejayi claimed his third in eight games.

James Gray has looked a different player in recent weeks and although he was rested for Northern Ireland’s Under-21s on Tuesday, Shay McCartan came off the bench to help them beat Cyprus 1-0 and register their first win of their Euro 2015 qualifying campaign.

Danny Webber is also in contention and looking sharp again after recovering from injury, so Beattie has a welcome selection dilemma for the next two games.

“I’ve got a nice headache for once,” he said. “If players are playing well then they keep the shirt.

“The competition for places is thriving at the moment. They’re a great group of lads, I love working with them every day and I’m proud to be in charge of them.

“We’ve got to carry that on, keep our feet on the ground and keep training hard. Then if we’re in the right frame of mind at the weekend, I know what this group can do.”

The Reds then welcome derby rivals Fleetwood to the Store First Stadium on Tuesday night and they will be keen to avenge their 3-0 home defeat by the Cod Army in March, when Jon Parkin scored a hat-trick.

Fleetwood were the League Two leaders until losing Saturday’s top-versus-bottom clash at Northampton.

That saw Graham Alexander’s men slip to fourth but they can reclaim top spot when they host Mansfield this Saturday.