JIMMY Quinn is confident Accrington Stanley can bounce back from their first home league defeat in 16 months.

For the Shrewsbury Town manager and former Blackburn Rovers centre forward believes John Coleman's side has the quality to finish their first season in the Nationwide Conference in the top eight.

The Stanley chief was furious after losing 1-0 to Quinn's Shrews, who are full-time and were only relegated from the Football League last season.

Coleman slammed his side for showing too much respect to a side who hit the headlines last season after beating Everton in the FA Cup, instead of the enthusiasm and desire which he has become accustomed to.

But ex-Northern Ireland international Quinn urged Coleman not to get despondent.

"I thought our lads worked tremendously hard.

"If you do that in every game it doesn't matter who you're playing, you become a good team and a hard team to beat," he said.

"I thought, particularly in the midfield area, we had the legs on a little bit and, on another day, I thought we could have got three or four.

"We're a good side and are hoping to stay in the top five all season.

"But Accrington are a decent side and won't be too far away at the end of the season. In fact, I know they're part-time but I'd be disappointed if they weren't in the top eight or nine."

He added: "I was disappointed with our finishing but the strikers were up against a couple of tough centre-halves.

"I watched Accrington against Leigh last week and Accrington were miles ahead of them. They ripped Leigh apart and could have had six or seven goals in the end."

Shrewsbury goalkeeper Scott Howie, who replaced the injured Ian Dunbavin midway through the first half, was also impressed with last season's UniBond Premier Division champions and praised his defence for coping with Stanley's attacking threats.

"It was inevitable they would push everyone forward because they had nothing to lose when we went a goal ahead towards the end," he said.

"But I thought our two centre backs did very well against very tough opposition as they had four or five players up there at any one time."