ACCRINGTON manager John Coleman is refusing to panic after seeing his side's terrible recent run continue against high-flying Plymouth.

The Reds went close to scoring on numerous occasions, striking the woodwork twice, but were sunk when Craig Tanner's shot – that Colman later described a 'pea-roller' – squirmed under goalkeeper Elliot Parish and into the Stanley net.

Afterwards the manager admitted he was frustrated by the result, but praised his players and the fans for the effort and commitment they showed.

"I'm hurting and the players are hurting," he said.

"We're in a critical situation here, but we don't deserve to be and we've got to keep believing.

"I've got to take my hat off to the players, I thought they were fantastic today, but there seems to be a curse on that goal – the ball just will not go in the net.

"We've had Seamus' (Conneely) shot which gets deflected and loops onto the post, and then we've had Jordan's (Clark) shot which gets deflected, the keeper's lying on the floor and it falls into his lap.

"Then they hit a pea-roller of a shot and it goes through our keeper's legs.

"It's frustrating but I've got to be proud of the way the players played.

"I also thought the fans were fantastic – they tried to drag us over the line and they stuck with us.

"They stuck with us at the end and they realise the effort the players had put in."

Coleman said he is backing his side to reverse their fortunes heading into a busy Christmas and New Year period, and admitted he doesn't any expect any credit form his opposite number, Pilgrims boss Derek Adams, whose side went back to the top of the table with the win at the Wham, Stadium.

Coley said: "I'm not panicking yet because I know I've got a good side, but the Conference is littered with sides who are too good to go down so we've got to fight our way out of it.

"We've got big characters in there and if we keep playing like that, surely we can't keep losing.

"So we've got to stick our chests out and go again."

He added: "They (Plymouth) had a five-minute spell and they scored during that.

"They changed it to 4-4-2 and that suited us because the game got stretched and we were going to be the only winner.

"Then we got a bit sloppy and we couldn't get the ball out of our half for five minutes, and that culminated in the pea-roller of a shot that went in.

"That's hard to take but we kept going until the end.

"We are hurting but we're not down and out yet and we'll keep fighting.

"Football can be a cruel game, but you can't fault us for effort.

"It's not the first time Plymouth have absolutely mugged us for a win. Probably their manager won't see it that way and I'm expecting now credit from them and I don't want any credit from them."