ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman believes his side will face a much-improved Cambridge United team when the U's visit the Wham Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Cambridge are up to 12th after an improved run since Shaun Derry took over at the Abbey Stadium in mid November and they harbour outside hopes of gatecrashing the play-offs.

And Coleman, who saw his side win 3-2 in the reverse fixture just two weeks after Derry's appointment thanks to a second half Josh Windass winner from the penalty spot, is bracing himself for a difficult encounter.

"Thy have improved under Shaun Derry," said the Reds boss. "The results tell you that and the way they are playing tells you that.

"Possibly we were a little bit fortunate to win there. We had a couple of horrific decisions go against us and then we had one that went for us but we stuck at our task that day.

"I know it is going to be a very very difficult game on Saturday,

"What we have got to is give them the respect that they deserve but we have got to focus on how we play.

"When we get at teams and we get on the front foot, as we showed against Orient and Plymouth, we are capable of making chances against the better teams and are also capable of taking chances.

"We have got to believe there is an opportunity for us to win and we have got to go and try and grab it."