ROBBIE WILLIAMS is determined for home rule to return to Accrington as they look to push on towards the play-off places tomorrow.
Stanley face seventh placed Rotherham - with the return of ex-Red Andy Todd - but have stuttering form at the FES.
Including cup games, Stanley have lost seven of their 10 home matches this season and have conceded 19 goals, with just one clean sheet.
And, after the FES has been such a fortress in recent campaigns, long-servant Williams knows they need to turn their season around in Lancashire.
“We are disappointed with our home form,” said the 28-year-old defender. “We need to stop conceding goals, especially so easily, and improve our home results sooner rather than later.
“Away from home we seem to be keeping it tighter and restrict teams to less chances.
“But we are an attacking side - it is the way we play - and teams do come to Accrington and try and stifle us but we have to be brighter and be more patient when we have the ball.
“Although we have been conceding goals, I do feel we have been playing well in games and have looked okay overall.
“But it is individual errors which are costing us at the moment and we need to sort that out.
“When you look at the Huddersfield game in the FA Cup on Saturday, I felt we did play really well, got off to a great start, but got hit with a sucker punch before half-time which is always a bad time to concede.
“Then we conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game and that was agony.
“Our home form hasn’t been playing on our minds, although you do tend to think about it after games, especially as a defender you look at the amount of goals we have conceded at home.
“And I take a lot of responsibility for some of the goals conceded.”
Williams has linked up with Mark Roberts and Sean Webb for the first time this season in the heart of the backline.
But manager John Coleman has threatened to bring new defenders in to shut up shop and help the 10th place side make a push for the play-offs.
He has been in Ireland this week, looking at players.
“You do hear things about the defence and that new players might come in but all it does is make me more determined to do better,” said Williams.
“You hear the manager criticising the defence but a lot of time it is the truth - we have conceded too many goals - so we can’t have any complaints.
“The gaffer will back us to the hilt at other times so it does work both ways.
“If anybody does come in, then we will have to fight for our places and we are prepared to do that.”
If the Reds do get their home form right, Williams is certain they can challenge at the right end of the table.
“We have got to be looking at the play-offs,” he said. “It is a realistic goal. We are in a good position at the moment and we want to be up there.
“There are some strong teams in our league like MK Dons, Peterborough and Hereford have done really well but, as long as our home form improves, then we hope to be up there.”
Coleman has some big decisions to make tomorrow as he looks for his side to get back to winning ways at the FES. Loan midfielder Ian Craney is available for selection after his club, Swansea, didn’t want him to be cup-tied in the 3-2 loss to League One side Huddersfield in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Midfielder Rommy Boco played 45 minutes in the 4-0 reserve victory over a young Manchester City side on Tuesday as he battles back from a back injury. And striker Leighton McGivern has staked a claim for a place with a hat-trick against the ten-man Sky Blues while John Miles grabbed the other goal.
Meanwhile, Phil Edwards is also hoping for a recall, especially as Sean Webb could be called-up for Northern Ireland international duty, as they play Denmark tomorrow in their Euro 2008 qualifier.
STANLEY goalkeeping coach Ian Willcock has been fined £150 and warned about his future conduct by the Football Association. Willock had denied breaching FA rule E3 - using abusive and/or insulting words - at Stanley’s League Two defeat at Shrewsbury in September.
THE Reds travel to Blackpool on Tuesday in the first round of the Lancashire FA Senior Cup (ko 7pm). The game is at Bloomfield Road.
