WHEN John Coleman took the reigns at Accrington Stanley in 1999, the Reds were on the way back and playing in the UniBond Division One.

Wimbledon, on the other hand, were part of the elite of English football and were firmly established in the Premiership.

And although the Dons' name may have changed, the clubs who were once worlds apart will do battle on a level playing field this weekend.

It highlights just how far Stanley have come, and how far the MK Dons have fallen, that they meet in the same division when just seven years ago an incredible EIGHT tiers separated them.

And Coleman will have extra motivation to beat the Dons - as payback for what they did to his beloved Liverpool in the FA Cup Final in 1988.

But it's the three points that Coleman wants the most to propel Stanley up the table after taking just one point from the last 15 in the league.

He said: "That (the 1988 Cup Final) is something that will stay with me for a long time. The name may have changed but the club's still the same. But the distance they have come and we have come in the last seven years is incredible.

"We would have been dreaming of playing against these seven years ago so now we have got the opportunity, we don't want to fluff our lines.

"They have been very much up and down this season. One game they're great and other times they struggle. They had a good win the other night against Stockport County but I think it's quite remarkable to think where we were seven years ago and where they were. We were worlds apart."

But despite being at opposite ends of the table at the moment, Coleman's side will go into tomorrow's clash full of confidence.

After a losing streak in the league and cup, Stanley showed a great fighting spirit to come from behind three times and earn a point against Shrewsbury.

And Coleman is hoping his side can claim that elusive victory that could help them to start climbing the table.

He added: "It's a confidence boost because we stopped the rot of losing and I thought we showed remarkable resilience to come from behind three times.

"Having said that, it was bad defending from ourselves to concede at least one of the goals.

"We were pleased to score three goals but we need to find that elusive win and hopefully we can get that tomorrow.

"Since I've been here, we always seem to perform better against better teams. I've had them watched once but I don't know much about MK Dons. But the league table doesn't lie and they're up there because they've had good results.

"We've made it an uncomfortable place for people to come to in the past and we have to get back to that."