For the most part, Stanley’s away record is one to be proud of – unbeaten on their travels and no goals conceded.

The flip side of the away form is though that Accrington haven’t scored a league goal away from the Crown Ground.

And, with trips to Northampton, Oxford and now Plainmoor under their belts, that’s around 1,300 miles travelled by the Reds faithful without seeing a Stanley goal.

It’s hard to decide if it’s a good or bad statistic with manager John Coleman joking it’s suddenly "boring, boring Accy."

But most managers have the philosophy that not losing your away games and winning your home games is the key to success and Coleman is of the same thinking.

"We said to the lads that the Torquay result will be put in perspective tonight when we play Lincoln," said the Reds boss.

"If we can beat Lincoln it will be a great result, if we can’t beat Lincoln it will be an average result."

And not losing at teams like Northampton, Oxford and Torquay is certainly something to brag about, especially considering the Gulls’ unbeaten record at Plainmoor this season and the fact they went back to the top of the table with the hard-earned point from Saturday.

Coleman is proud of what is the best defence in League Two at the moment with just one goal conceded all season – and with keeper Ian Dunbavin not having a lot to do against the table-toppers.

Coleman said: "Since we’ve been in the Football League our goals against has been absolutely pathetic and it’s something that we’re working hard to try and address.

"So far it’s happening. Whether we can keep that going until the end of the season or not remains to be seen.

"We’re trying to keep it tight by keeping the ball. If you’ve got the ball the other team can’t score and that’s what we’re trying to drill into the players.

"That’s what we do every day in training, try to emphasise that the more we’re in possession the easier it’s going to be for our defence."

The Reds chief also singled out Sean Hessey for praise as the centre-half has been a revelation since he signed from Macclesfield in the summer.

"I think Sean has made a big difference to the side with his experience. And he is also a very good passer of the ball which helps when you’re passing the ball out from the back and means you can retain the ball."

But, on the opposite side of the coin, Coleman admits that the lack of goals is something which is a worry.

While most of the top 10 teams are closing in or on double figures from their six league games so far, Stanley have netted four times this season in two matches.

And they only have two players on target – Sean McConville with his hat-trick against Macclesfield and Rory Boulding with his last-gasp equaliser against Wycombe.

And a goal drought is certainly something new to Coleman’s 11 years at Stanley where fans are more used to his sides scoring at will – but also conceding.

Higher

"It’s still early days but we’re still working on things and I think we’re just lacking a little more goalscoring threat. If we could have that and we could score some goals I think we’d be a lot higher in the league.

"We’ve made more chances than Torquay, that’s for sure, and our keeper hasn’t made a save and theirs has made three or four, so you can draw your own conclusions from that."

The Reds did catch Gulls keeper Scott Bevan in superb form.

The former Southampton trainee, whose career was threatened when he had to have a kidney removed after sustaining an injury playing for Tamworth, pushed out McConville’s powerful shot, denied Charlie Barnett from a free kick and a deflection from Jimmy Ryan’s shot wrong-footed Bevan but he still managed to change direction and clear.

Ryan had another effort which took a deflection but Bevan was again alive to it to keep that out, and the stopper denied the Reds a last-gasp winner in injury time when captain Andy Procter’s goalbound header was pushed away by the goalie. Anywhere else and it was a win for the Reds with Procter still cursing himself after the game for failing to take the chance.

But the Gulls, without top scorer Elliot Benyon, made sure it wasn’t all one-way traffic with Martin Gritton getting in front of his marker and putting one effort just wide and there were worries when ex-Red super sub Billy Kee came on after the hour.

He was known for winning Stanley games off the bench last season and Coleman admitted there was a big gulp when Phil Edwards was judged to have handled the ball on the edge of the area with seven minutes to go.

"I feared the worse when Billy got that free kick because I showed him how to do them!" said Coleman.

Instead the Reds chief was relieved to see that, instead of giving Kee the free kick himself, Torquay passed the ball to him, which allowed the Reds wall to block the effort.

"I can’t believe they touched it to him!" said the Reds boss who had enjoyed friendly banter with his former player before the game.

And the point could have been snatched from the Reds in the denying seconds when a Chris Zebroski header skimmed the crossbar.

The 50-or-so Reds fans behind that goal were certainly relieved at that after having last minute heartbreak at Plainmoor last season when Darran¿Kempson scored a late own goal to hand the game to the Gulls.

Coleman continued: "They were nervous moments for us late on, but thankfully it wasn’t a repeat of last year and we even had a chance ourselves to win it late on."

And while another point on their travels was well received, Coleman would never really settle for a draw.

"I’d always try to get the three points, but I think you can look back on a point and think that it’s a point well gained."