JOHN Coleman has hailed the spirit which he feels will help Accrington Stanley turn a corner.

While the Reds manager would have preferred to claim three points at home to Exeter on Saturday, he saw enough in the goalless draw to encourage him that his side look set to return to winning ways.

And summer signing Lee McEvilly was singled out for a display which epitomised Stanley's fighting spirit.

"I thought Lee was great," Coleman said.

"He showed a huge appetite for the game and was a constant threat, and he's very difficult to stop when he gets into that frame of mind.

"It's a shame he never got his goal.

"He came in and hit a volley and if it was a foot lower, it's in.

"He hit the post and the ball defied physics to come back out.

"When things are going for you, things like that happen. It's just important then that you don't go and lose the game, which we didn't. We defended really well.

"We just need that little bit of something to happen and I think we'll go on from there."

The Stanley boss added: "There was a lot more spirit about the side.

"I've said it before but if we'd have shown that commitment last week we would still be in the FA Cup. That's a fact.

"That's what we've got to do - believe in ourselves and take the game to teams.

"We quickly changed it to 4-4-2 after five minutes because we felt we could put them under more pressure and we did.

"We'll maybe work on a little bit more composure around the box this week in training, we worked a lot defensively last week and that paid dividends on Saturday.

"We need to work a little bit more on our creative side during the week and hopefully we'll get something from that."

Meanwhile, Coleman stepped up his search for a goalkeeper this week after Carl Ikeme's loan spell expired on Saturday.

And the Reds chief felt the Wolves stopper bowed out of the Interlink Express Stadium on a high, despite a couple of scares.

"He let one slip through his hands but things like that happen in football," he said.

"The lad was bright to make a good save in the first half, probably the only proper save he had to make, and he gathered a couple on a slippy pitch, and they are hard to deal with as a goalkeeper so he did well."

Coleman remained tight-lipped about which stopper he had targeted but did say he hoped to snap him up this week as Danny Alcock is the only available goalkeeper, with Jon Kennedy sidelined until the New Year with a broken leg.

One player who looks set to go out on loan is Steve Halford.

Clubs including Radcliffe Borough and Stalybridge Celtic have enquired about taking the central defender on a temporary basis. And Coleman is keen to comply in order to get Halford match fit after recovering from a broken leg.

"I think a loan move would be ideal for him to get match fit," the Stanley boss said.