John Coleman says his Accrington Stanley side are up for the fight as they look to move out of the bottom four with a win at Port Vale tomorrow night.
The Reds manager admitted he was down after the 3-0 loss to Lincoln City on Saturday which plunged Stanley into 23rd place in the League One table.
But, despite being down to the bare bones, Coleman is focusing on a win in one of their games in hand which, if more than 1-0, will lift the Reds out of the bottom four.
“Everyboyd could see how down I was after the game on Saturday,” said Coleman. “You worry you may not be able to field a team, or a defence, but a couple of days later you get the spring back in your step.
“There is no point approaching this game in a downbeat manner, you have got to be upbeat.
“It’s a wonderful job we all love, it’s a great industry to be in and, while sometimes it can get you down, you realise how fortunate you are.
“We have 20 games to go and we are going to stick our chest out and fight every inch of the way.
“We let ourselves down on Saturday. I take a share of the blame for the tactics I played. The players have to take their share of the blame for how they implemented those tactics buy, between us, we will get it right.
“We didn’t trouble their goal and that was a worry. It’s been a long time since we played that badly, certainly at home and I didn’t see it coming and maybe I should have. It gives you food for thought but I still have faith in the players.
“The good thing about football is you can draw a line under it and go again and there are still plenty of games to go again in.
“I love every time I am involved in a football match so I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
Vale lost 3-0 to Wycombe on Saturday with their manager Darrell Clarke demanding his 14th placed bounce back tomorrow night.
They have one win in their last six league games with four losses in that.
“We can’t worry about what the other teams do,” said Coleman. “We will present our lads with an idea of how they will play, things to be aware of, but it boils down to the fact we have to get our own house in order and that means playing with the intensity I know we can, making chances, stopping them at the other end, sticking our chests out and being bold.
“It’s about representing this club and being proud to represent this club and, for the travelling fans, give them something to cheer about.
“If we can get our own house in order you haven’t got to worry what is going on around you. You haven’t got to worry about games in hand if you starting winning games and that’s what we have to focus on.
“We have got to embrace and enjoy it. You will have ups and downs and, by the nature of the league we are in, there will be more downs than ups as there are teams with bigger resources than ourselves, but we have to keep fighting.”
Defender Doug Tharme was stretchered off with a head injury but is improving while the Reds are monitoring Ryan Astley’s ankle injury. Harry Perritt sits out his one game suspension following his dismissal on Saturday.
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!