“HAVE you seen the state of my nose? I can’t cut it off any more to spite my face, can I?”

That was the response from Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman when asked if he intended to keep Matt Crooks and Josh Windass in his plans, despite the pair both this week signing pre-contract agreements to join Rangers in the summer.

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“Why not play your best players.

“Crooksy has been one of our best players this season, Josh in flashes has been brilliant,” added Coleman, but there was a caveat to his conviction.

“By nature of the way Josh plays he’s not going to be brilliant all the while hence he’s been subbed so many times recently.

“But we’ve got good players in our squad and we’ve got a certain young Shay McCartan, who is absolutely chomping at the bit in training. When he comes on he brightens the place up, so no-one’s position is carved in stone.”

Nevertheless, Coleman was adamant, despite intense speculation surrounding his out-of-contract duo, that he would keep his squad in tact until the end of the season.

And, despite a suggestion north of the border that Rangers are preparing a £400,000 swoop to land the Reds duo six months ahead of schedule, he is sticking by his stance.

Coleman says the club has not had any contact with the Scottish Championship side, other than an email informing them of the pre-contract arrangement.

“I told them they weren’t going to leave until the end of the season, and that’s still the position,” said the Reds boss.

“I said three months ago that they were free to do what they want in January because the minute they didn’t sign the new contracts that we offered them, which were unbelievable for a club of our size, I knew they weren’t going to sign and they were going to go in the summer, so nothing’s changed.

“I’m not churlish enough to know that every player’s got his price and if a price comes that we can’t turn down, well then we don’t turn it down, but I can’t see that happening so they’ll be Accrington players until the end of the season.

“We’ve had no dialogue with anybody. We got an email off Rangers informing us very curtly that their intention was that they were going to speak to the players with a view to signing them at the end of the season, and that was it.

“It was a three-line email, and that’s all we’ve heard.

“But my perspective on the season hasn’t changed.

“They’ve only agreed to sign them at the end of the season, so it’s business as usual for me. And my focus is on the Notts County game on Saturday.

“I was awake at half five in the morning looking at videos of Notts County, so that tells you where my priorities lie.

“What happens between now and the end of the season is all I’m focusing on.”

Coleman had not spoken to the players before yesterday morning’s press conference at the Wham Stadium, but both were expected to be involved in today’s training session in preparation for Saturday’s visit of the mid-table Magpies, although Windass has been struggling with a groin problem.