ACCRINGTON Stanley defender Tom Aldred says his equalising FA Cup goal against Yeovil has taken on even greater significance, with the Reds just one game away from facing Manchester United at home.

Stanley's incentive for reaching the third round went up a notch when they pulled out the Premier League giants in last night's draw.

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But Aldred insisted no-one in the camp will forget they have to get past League One opposition first.

"Both teams are going to be well up for it," he said.

"We're even more gutted we didn't win on Saturday now because we should have, but we've processed our disappointment.

"We've got to go there and do it all over again and this time come out on top."

Aldred could not have picked a better time to score his first of the season, to keep the Reds in the competition with a 1-1 draw.

John Coleman’s side trailed to Jordan Clarke’s first-half strike but Aldred’s deft finish ensured a replay for the second successive round.

“It was good to get a goal,” he said. “I’ve needed one and I’ve not scored for a while so it’s good to get off the mark.

"It was a good time to score, and I'm hoping next time it can be the winner!

“As a defender you always want to get your fair share. Goalscoring is something I need to improve on but I think a striker would have been happy with my finish so I’ve got to be happy with it!

“It was an important goal for the club because it could have been one of those games where it just wasn’t our day.

“Fortunately we got a goal and I thought we were going to crack on and get a second but it never came.”

Accrington had their League One visitors on the back foot throughout but could not convert their chances - Shay McCartan’s header hitting the post was the closest they came to a winner - and Aldred says it could have been a much easier afternoon had the Reds been more clinical.

“We’ve got to be taking our chances, especially against a team who are struggling in League One. If we take them, we could have killed them off and, if we had got the goals at the right times, it could have been four or five.”

For all of their dominance, Stanley almost threw the tie away in stoppage time as Yeovil defender Stephen Arthurworrey was presented with a free header but it was clawed over the bar by goalkeeper Jack Rose to the relief of Aldred.

“I ran out to try and close the ball down so he was my man!” he grinned.

“Luckily Jack made a good save; it would have been sod’s law if they had scored right at the end to win it after we played so well.”

Following such a dominant display, particularly in the second half, the central defender believes Stanley have nothing to fear ahead of the replay.

“Like with Notts County in the last round, we know what we need to do to get through and it’s something that we’ll look forward to.

“I think they’ll be fearing us rather than us fearing them, that’s for sure.”