ANYONE who saw the piece of skill from Simon Carden in Monday's win over Bamber Bridge couldn't have failed to be impressed by the Stanley midfielder.

Even Gazza would have been proud of it as Carden got the ball around 25 yards out, made a jinking run to beat a number of Bamber Bridge defenders and played in a perfect cross from the left which striker Paul Mullin fired home.

The 600 crowd watching gave the 23-year-old a huge round of applause for his skill and vision - but Carden didn't quite see it like that.

"I was a bit surprised really it all came together so well," said the modest Carden. "I'm not the quickest and I usually get caught.

"I think one defender tried to take me down but I managed to stumble through and dodge him.

"I was quite surprised to make it. I thought about having a shot but it was on my weaker left leg and anyway Paul was waiting with an open goal so I knew it was better to pass.

"But if the fans think it was skill I will let them believe that!"

Carden is playing it down, but it is more than just luck which has netted the midfielder 21 goals this season.

He has been employed as an emergency striker standing in for Mullin and Lutel James at times but has also been a provider for many of their goals.

"I usually get put up front when one of them gets injured. I don't mind it up front or midfield," admitted the former Stockport County trainee who has also missed a couple of games this season with a tendon injury. "I just tend to get on with it."

His tally for this season is his highest - when he was released from Edgeley Park, he got 18 goals in his first season for UniBond First Division side Radcliffe Borough and had nine the next season before he made his £5,000 move to the Crown Ground.

He netted nine for Stanley in the same season.

"I seemed to get stuck on 18 for the last two seasons so it was nice to get past that," admitted Carden.

"I would like to get to 25, you have got to have an aim although we have nine games left and that works out one every two games which could be a bit too much."

They have six UniBond Premier Division games left - starting at home to Hyde tomorrow - and then a two-legged UniBond League Cup final against Bradford and a one-off Lancashire Marsden Cup final against Barrow.

Stanley had still hoped to be up there challenging for the league title with Burton - and a place in the Conference - but Carden admits that all went wrong very quickly.

"We started off so badly," said a downbeat Carden of the opening where Stanley lost four of their first six matches. "I don't know what it was as we still have more or less the same team now.

"But that is where it went wrong. Things just didn't go right for us but once we got going we were okay.

"We then tended to be inconsistent. We would go on a run of eight or nine games unbeaten and then it would go wrong again for three or four games.

"It was like the Burton game in December, we were 3-1 up with ten minutes left and then they scored two goals. We could have got within touching distance of them if we had won that.

"Instead we then went on a poor run and ended up dropping back. We lost silly games, usually by the odd goal, when we should have got something out of them. "

Burton have run away with the league but the cluster fighting for second place - which includes fourth-placed Stanley - are close.

"That gives us hope for next season as all the teams apart from Burton have been slipping up.

"It means we do stand a good chance of being up there challenging for promotion and we will all be a year more experienced.

"We have the players here and hopefully we can do it. And if we do get into the Conference, we may go full-time and at least I wouldn't have to get up so early!" added Carden who works from 6am-2pm everyday.

Skipper Peter Cavanagh is a slight doubt tomorrow with a calf strain while central defender Paul Howarth has gone to Rossendale until the end of the season.

And manager John Coleman will look into the situation involving Gary Williams. The striker has gone on loan to Rossendale and has scored three goals. His loan spell ends on Wednesday and Dale boss Jim McCluskie wants him for longer.

"There are a few factors we will have to take into account before deciding what to do," said Coleman.