JOHN Coleman does not like to lose. Least of all to Morecambe.

But the Reds boss, his staff and players are ready to move on.

And ahead of tonight’s visit of Mansfield he wants the town to get on board and get behind the club.

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In their season opener at home to Luton, there were only nine more Stanley supporters than Hatters.

“We’re serving up a really good product here and I send out a passionate plea to the people of the town, they’ve got to get behind the club,” said the Stanley boss.

“We can’t be having home games at the Wham Stadium where our home fans are outnumbered. We can’t have that.

“If we’re going to be successful this year, which we all hope we can be, we need the backing of town.

“At some point we’ve got to capture the imagination of the town because we have got a good squad here and we are capable of playing some great football.

“I really want them to get behind the team and re-create the old days. When we were in the Conference and the UniBond the atmosphere was fantastic here and we’ve got to get that back.”

In Stanley’s promotion seasons from the UniBond League and Conference they drew crowds in excess of 3,000 but these days struggle to hit the 2,000 mark.

“I hope the people who went to the Hull game come back, but they’ve got to bring more,” he said.

“And we’ve got to get the atmosphere going because when the fans get behind us there’s no better place to play football than the Wham Stadium.”

One factor that could work in Stanley’s favour, from a spectator perspective, is the likelihood that Brian Jensen will start for the Stags.

The goalkeeper was a cult hero during a decade with Burnley, and with the Clarets away to Ipswich could contribute to drawing a crowd.

“I hope so,” said Coleman. “The Beast is a great lad, a great character and a good goalkeeper.

“I hope there are few Burnley fans who hold him in their heart and want to come and have a look at him.”