Stanley boss Leam Richardson is in a defiant mood after the Reds slipped to the bottom of League Two for the first time this season.

While Stanley have suffered two straight defeats in the last week, all their relegation rivals picked up points to leave the Reds propping up the table.

Richardson admits Tuesday night’s home defeat by Fleetwood offered few crumbs of comfort but he insists everyone involved with Stanley must look forward if the club is to maintain its Football League status.

The Reds still have another nine games to secure safety and face crucial home games against fellow strugglers Barnet and AFC Wimbledon in the next four days.

“As a club, as fans, as staff, as players – we’ve got to be careful that we aren’t defeated,” said Richardson.

“We’ve got a lot of football left and rather than wasting energy talking about negative things, let’s put it into a positive perspective.

“That goes for everybody, myself included. Don’t waste your time on negatives, what could have been, what should have been; speak about the here and now and address it, be a man, stand up and have a fight, have a really good fight.

“There’s always a game round the corner where you can make it right,” he added. “Come tomorrow we’ll be together and I’ll pick everybody up, staff included, and we’ll go again.

“If we go and win the next three games then everything’s looking a bit better. If you mope around and waste your energy on the negatives, it’s only going to go one way.”

A three-match unbeaten run briefly lifted Stanley out of the bottom two before losing to Northampton and Fleetwood.

But, given his players haven’t been paid in full, Richardson was reluctant to point the finger solely at them for the Fleetwood loss, sharing the responsibility for what was a dismal defeat.

“We came into the game on the back of some good performances and good results,” he said.

“We were really buoyant in training and we went in full of confidence but the first goal killed us.

“From the first to the last minute it wasn’t good enough, not by a long shot. That’s myself included, I must take the blame for that along with the lads.

“With the situation we’re in and where we find ourselves, that was as bad as it gets.

“I’ve left a couple of messages in the dressing room which will hurt individuals and the collective group. I’ve left them with that, but it’s my job to go again, to pick them up and be positive.

“Don’t shirk from the fact,” added the Reds’ boss.

“Don’t worry about somebody else not doing something. The message is ‘do your own job first, then help somebody else out’, and Tuesday night we didn’t do that.”

Stanley’s former managerial duo John Coleman and Jimmy Bell were again at Tuesday night’s game and, although Richardson is fewer than five months into the job, he is confident he’ll bounce back from this week’s setback.

“Management’s a tough job but if I didn’t think I was capable I wouldn’t have accepted it,” he said.

“This will just make me stronger. You learn from things quickly and this is just one of those learning curves for me.”