Stanley boss pleased to see Dons get off the mark in midweek

Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman was glad to see MK Dons win their first game of the season on Tuesday night for fear of a backlash from Liam Manning’s side.

The 2-1 win over Port Vale saw Dons put their first points on the board this season having lost their opening three matches.

Stanley head to Stadium MK this Saturday looking for their first ever win in the city, but face a new-look Dons after the significant changes to the squad over the summer.

Speaking ahead of their trip, Coleman said any side losing the likes of Troy Parrott and Scott Twine would suffer, but admitted heading to Milton Keynes to take on a Dons side still without a point would have posed a bigger threat.

He said: “Any team losing that amount of goals in the team, losing Scott and Troy, is always going to be a problem for them but I am pleased they got a result midweek as I didn’t want us going there looking for them to get off the mark.

“It will pose different problems, they will play a slightly different system to what they played last season.

“But we know if we put the effort in we are capable of getting the rewards. We need a little bit of luck along the way, but the players have given their all in the four games so far and, as a manager, you can’t be disappointed in that.”

Stanley are unbeaten at the start of this season, with a win and two draws to their name in League One so far. But across all competitions, Coleman’s side have conceded eight goals so far, including four at home last time out in the remarkable 4-4 draw with Burton Albion.

Coleman continued: “We said at the start of the season that our focus was on defending and we haven’t done as well as we should have done. We shouldn’t be conceding four at home against any team, that’s something we have to tighten up.

“The goals are avoidable but players don’t make mistakes on purpose.”