JOHN Coleman has hailed tonight’s trip to Hartlepool as Stanley’s “most important game ever” and told his promotion-chasing squad they will have to get used to being a scalp in the final four games of the season.

The Reds travel to the North-East unbeaten in eight games, but having slipped out of the top three after Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Morecambe.

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With the five teams vying for the final two automatic promotion slots all playing away tonight, Coleman knows a win at Victoria Park against a in-form Pools would be a massive boost.

He said: “I know we keep saying ‘the biggest game the club’s been involved in’, but this is certainly going to be the most important game.

“Everybody’s expecting each other to slip up and we’ve got to make sure we don’t.

“A defeat tomorrow wouldn’t put you out of it, but it would make it very difficult.”

After spending a week in the top three, Coleman knows that his side are now a target to be shot at, but he also insists other teams in the mix won’t have it all their own way.

“For the last four games, we got to be accustomed to becoming a scalp,” he added.

“You only have to look at how the Morecambe fans celebrated a draw to see how much of a scalp it is, and that’s something that the players should be proud of.

“People might have admired what we’ve done but never seen us as a threat, but they see us as a major threat now.

“They have been expecting us to fall away all season and now they’ve realised that we’re not falling away. With four games to go, let’s hope we don’t fall away.

“I would be amazed if the five who are chasing the two places all pick up maximum points. They’ll be slips and twists and turns along the way.”

Hartlepool have been in good form since Craig Hignett replaced Ronnie Moore as manager in February, with the former Blackburn Rovers midfielder losing guiding them away from the drop zone with just once loss in his first nine games.

But the attacking style they have adopted under Hignett will suit Coleman’s Stanley side.

The Stanley boss said: “I think it will lend itself to be an open game and an attractive game, because they’re an exciting side,” he added. “Craig has done remarkably well in turning around not just the results, but the way they’re playing.”