John Coleman knows his side need to keep their concentration for the full game as his side look to put space between themselves and the bottom four when they make the trip to Cambridge United on Saturday.
The Us are in 18th place, three points above the 20th placed Reds, and have won one of their last eight League One matches.
Stanley haven’t won in the league since October 1st and have picked up one point out of 21 – and Coleman is desperate for his side to get back on the winning trail as soon as possible.
Preparation hasn’t been helped by more additions to the treatment room, including influential Sean McConville (calf) and Joe Pritchard (hamstring) both coming off in the 1-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday and missing the trip to the Abbey Stadium.
“Both are massive blows,” said Coleman. “Joe is one of most creative players in the league, we will miss him but hopefully he won’t be out for long.
“Sean is longer term. You can see the impact he has every season, he often captains the side in the absence of Seamus (Conneely). His ability to pick passes out and his ball delivery is fantastic. He is chipping in with goals as well so to lose him is a massive blow.
“Thankfully Sean does heal well but when you are losing creative players, it’s difficult to replace them.”
Kody Adedoyin is getting back to fitness while defender Ryan Astley (knee) is out this week.
“Hopefully Ryan Astley is back in a couple of weeks and Michael Nottingham should be back early in the new year.
“Michael has been one of the best defensive signings we have made in a long time so it’s a blow.
“But it’s the way it is. You see the way the lads acquitted themselves in the second half against a top side in Sheffield Wednesday last week so that tells you we aren’t going to throw the towel in, we will go all out every game we play.
“There was also a really good performance from the Under-23s against a strong Morecambe side midweek and they managed to get through to the next round of the Lancashire Cup and that was impressive. We have some good youngsters so that bodes well for the future.”
The Reds boss hopes the Fleetwood second half performance three weeks ago was the ‘lowest of the season’ and feels his side are re-focused as they look to climb the league table.
“The improvement we have shown since the Fleetwood game has been down to hard work and that’s got to be the main focus, we have got to keep that going until the end of the season.
“You can easily feel sorry for yourself in this league as there are so many good teams and sometimes luck or decisions don’t go for you but you have got to keep going and the best way out of something is through it.
“The lads have to work hard, that’s the minimum standard, and we have been hitting those levels.
“Cambridge are hard to break down, they are a good side, they have got their own strengths which we will try and negate and exploit some of what we perceive as their weaknesses.
“Like every game in this league, it’s a battle of wills, you need a bounce here or there but the big thing in coming weeks is concentration and we have to keep our concentration levels up to a maximum.
“I want to get to the situation way before May that we are not looking over our shoulder – everything has to be geared towards getting a result whatever competition you are in.
“You are never surprised if anyone beats anyone in this league. You need all your best players out on the pitch at the one time and, because we haven’t been getting that, you feel you have a ready made excuse and I don’t want that, I want us to compete every game we play. Whoever gets picked, they are at this club for a reason.”
The full pre-match interview with John Coleman is available to watch on the club's official YouTube channel, CLICK HERE to find out more!