John Coleman ran the rule over tomorrow night’s opponents Shrewsbury Town on Saturday with Stanley having a free weekend in Sky Bet League One.
The manager went to watch the Shrews draw 1-1 with MK Dons with the 17th placed Reds visiting the Montgomery Waters Meadow tomorrow looking to overtake Sam Ricketts’ side in the table.
“I went to watch Shrewsbury v MK Dons so I didn’t have a Saturday off,” said Coleman.
“Shrewsbury have good players, we have seen that against Liverpool in the FA Cup.
“They have got players who can hurt you and we have to come up with a way to counter that and to defend that and to attack where we feel we can exploit the areas to score goals.
“The wind spoilt the game on Saturday for both sides, both were inhibited in how they play the game and I hope it dies down for tomorrow night.
“The results were quite kind to us but you want to be playing football, you want your destiny in your hands, but it gave me the opportunity to run the rule over two teams we are going to play before the end of the season so that was good.”
The Shrews have ex-Red Omar Beckles in their side, he scored on Saturday, but another former Stanley player, Shaun Whalley, is injured.
“Shaun was in the stands on Saturday, he has pulled his hamstring so he won’t be playing against us.
“I love Shaun, he is a great lad and he is one of their better players, in my opinion."
Coleman could give a third Stanley debut to Bobby Grant, who signed on loan from Wrexham last week, and a full debut to Wolves loan striker Benny Ashley-Seal. The Reds boss has been impressed with both in training.
“I saw Benny for the first time on Friday, he really impressed me with his attitude and I think he will be a smashing addition to the club.
“We know all about Bobby so there won’t be any surprises there but I have been really pleased with what I have seen from Benny.
“The January window was ok for us. I am happy I have kept players and we will get players back soon. Sam Finley and Colby Bishop should be back within the next two weeks and that will be like signing two new players so we have things to look forward to.
“It gives us more options, we have got one or two niggles on other players but we need a healthy squad, we need all players pushing for places.”
Stanley won their first league game of 2020 against AFC Wimbledon last time out but, despite being 11 points clear of the bottom three, Coleman says they are still nervously looking over their shoulders.
“You can’t get lulled into a false sense of security, there is a lot of hard work to be done if we are going to remain in League One next season and that’s at the forefront of our minds and every point we earn is going to be crucial.”