ANTHONY Barry believes beating Mansfield in midweek will help kick-start Accrington Stanley’s season.

The Reds got off the mark thanks to Sean McConville’s first-half strike against the Stags.

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And although John Coleman’s side did not play as well as they had in the opening day draw with Luton Town or narrow defeat at Morecambe, or indeed their penalty shoot-out Capital One Cup loss to Hull City, the points were all important.

And midfielder Barry believes it is just the start of what will be a successful season in his full-time second Stanley coming.

“There’s a lot of self belief in the changing room. The start hasn’t affected our confidence in any way, we think we can do something special this year,” said the 29-year-old, who is back at the club 10 years after joining the club that gave him his Football League break.

“No-one outside of the club gives us a chance but in the changing room we think we’ve got a pretty good chance of going on and surprising a lot of people.

“We didn’t win a game in our first week but I think just a little bit of tinkering in both boxes and we’ll start to get results.

“If we can just add that killer instinct into our game in both boxes it will take us to the next level.

“We were 2-1 favourites to go down at the start of the season but in the camp if we don’t finish in the play-offs it won’t be acceptable.

“That’s the ambition around the place and Accrington, as a club, trying to move forward.”

Of the first two league games, Barry added: “It was frustrating to be honest. We felt we deserved more out of the games and I think anyone who watched the first three games will understand where we’re coming from.

“The performances were good and it continued from pre-season.

“It’s early days but we want winning to become a habit.

“We started on Tuesday night so we just need to stay calm and keep believing that we can come good.

“I think you’ll start to see us kick on now.”

Barry added that he felt getting on the front foot and starting well was crucial to Stanley’s ambition of climbing the table.

“Especially in League Two I think the first goal’s always important,” he said.

“That showed against Morecambe because we completely controlled the game and they scored out of nothing.

“It changed the emphasis and allowed Morecambe to come back in and soak up some pressure.

“The margins are so small and I think the league will be tight this year so hopefully we can start picking up more points.”

Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Notts County, who Stanley knocked out of the FA Cup in a first round reply last season when the Magpies were a League One club, Barry added: “It’s still not the start we wanted. We should have beaten Luton at home and we should have had minimum a point at Morecambe.

“We should be a lot higher up than we are, but that’s been and gone now. We can just keep looking forward and moving on to the next game with Notts County away.

“We did really well there last year. It’s a big pitch and that will suit us.”