JOHN Coleman wouldn't say no to a touch of deja vu tomorrow.

The Accrington Stanley manager has experienced the same senses he felt in the build-up to his side's trip to Exeter City four weeks ago.

The end result was a morale boosting 2-1 win on the south coast courtesy of two Lee McEvilly strikes combined with a solid all-round display that galvanized their play-off ambitions.

And Coleman would settle for more of the same as he prepares his troops for tomorrow's crunch clash with Carlisle United.

"Probably our hardest away game recently was at Exeter and we went there and acquitted ourselves really well, so it's going to be another case of that tomorrow. We've got to get a result," the Stanley boss said.

"I was very confident going to Exeter because the mood in the camp was good, and so far this week the camp's been quite bright again so I think we'll put on a good show against Carlisle."

Coleman puts such buoyancy among his players down to not only a run of 10 games without defeat in all competitions, but also the introduction of two new signings this week as striker David Brown joined from Hereford United and former Welshpool Town wide man Gary Roberts' international clearance came through in time for him to come into contention tomorrow.

"The new signings will put a bit of pressure on people for places and they give me a bit of a problem selection wise, which can only be a good thing," Coleman said.

"I think a couple of new faces now will give us a bit of a spark, and hopefully more attacking options because we've lacked cover for forwards since Damien Hindle and Shaun Tuck went.

"But now we've brought in a proven striker at Conference level in David, so we've got three top strikers looking for two places, which I think is good because Lee (McEvilly) and Paul (Mullin) haven't really had that pressure.

"Plus Gary can put pressure on the wide players. And if we can bring in another one, maybe a defender, we will have enough competition and cover in case anything happens.

"With cup competitions and the league we've still got 13 or 14 games left, not counting the play-offs if we were to make them.

"So you never know what could happen between now and the end of the season, but we will do our best to be prepared.

"We're always looking to go forward because settling for what you've got is not something in my make-up."

Coleman is certainly looking forward to another big game for his troops and the chance to pit his wits against Paul Simpson's Carlisle for the second time this season.

The Cumbrians, who were one of the favourites for immediate promotion back to the Football League this season following relegation from the Third Division, but slipped to 10th after a run of nine games without a win.

The disruptions of losing experienced goalscoring midfielder Andy Preece and having to move their 'home ground' temporarily to Workington and Morecambe's Christie Park after Brunton Park was flooded earlier this year affected their form, but they ended their lean spell with a 3-0 win at home to Leigh RMI on Tuesday night.

"It's as good a time to play them as any," Coleman said.

"We've got to get back on track ourselves. I know we're unbeaten in 10 but the level of performances haven't been as good as what I expect. The lads know that they need to improve a little bit."

He added: "Making the play-offs is our first goal and to do that we need to keep taking points off our closest rivals and hang on in there.

"I've set the lads a target for what I think we need to achieve that, but I won't reveal it until we reach it."

New signing Brown is hoping to have his say in helping Stanley get the points necessary to finish in the top five.

The 26-year-old former Manchester United trainee brings a wealth of play-off experience with him to the Interlink Express Stadium after finishing second last season with Hereford United.

But it was a bitter-sweet experience for the striker.

"We finished 19 points clear of third place and you'd have put money on us to go up in the play-offs. But it's a bit of a lottery because Shrewsbury, who finished 23 points behind us in fifth place, went up," he said.

"It was a sickener, but it shows that if you can just get in the play-offs you never know what could happen.

"I just want to play my part to get in the play-offs. We're not far off now and hopefully I can score a few goals in the last 10 games to get there."