JOHN Coleman believes Accrington Stanley are destined for the play-offs if they can maintain their position of having League Two’s tightest defence.

It is a position they currently share with Wycombe Wanderers, with both sides having shipped just four goals in seven league games.

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It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Reds, having ended last season with the poorest defensive record in the division, but Coleman is refusing to get carried away despite back-to-back shut-outs at Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers.

“It does give us a platform to build on,” Coleman said of that defensive resilience. “At this moment in time we’re joint lowest in the league for goals conceded.

“If we carry that through to the end of the season, we’ll make the play-offs, because you won’t be the team that conceded the fewest without being in the top seven.

“There is a still long way to go — you can go through good spells and then all of a sudden concede 10 in a week, so we’re not getting carried away.”

The task with Stanley now is to marry that defensive record with more attacking flair, with the Reds having scored just five goals in seven games.

One of those was Billy Kee’s stunning strike to secure all three points at the Memorial Ground last Saturday.

Coleman’s teams are usually renowned for their goal-scoring prowess, and it is something he is keen to rediscover in the coming weeks.

“We always like to try and attack, we always believe we can score more than the opposition,” said the Stanley boss.

“We are disappointed with our goals return this season.

“We haven’t shown what we’ve got going forward yet, and if we can do, we make an impact in this league.

“We need to be just a little bit more adventurous going forward and if we can, there’s no reason why we can’t dismantle a couple of teams in this league.”

Stanley face in-form Exeter at the Wham Stadium tomorrow, with the Grecians looking to make it four wins in a row.

Coleman is a fan of how Paul Tisdale’s side play the game and is predicting an entertaining clash.

“He plays the game pretty similar to the way we play so it should make for an entertaining game and I hope the town of Accrington come out to support us and get behind us,” he said.