JOHN Coleman and Jimmy Bell will be putting their friendship with Morecambe’s management duo of Jim Bentley and Ken McKenna to one side tonight as hostilities are resumed in the Lancashire derby.

All four are very good friends from their time at their respective clubs, but securing another three points to aid Stanley’s play-off push will be the only thing on Coleman’s mind come kick-off.

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Stanley have lost just twice in seven games since Coleman and Bell returned to the club and they are just three points off the top seven, with the visitors only outside of the play-off places on goal difference.

“They’re good friends of ours and I’ve got a lot of respect for both of them, in football and as people,” said Coleman. “ They’re two great fellas who will do a lot for you, and we’ve always tried to help each other out over the years.

“Jim especially is Morecambe through and through and deservedly has the status of that for what he has contributed to the club both as a player and as a manager. Kenny brings different strengths, great footballing person and a great knowledge of the game, I’m sure he could still be playing if he put his mind to it, but the friendship goes aside tonight, it will resume after the game has finished in the office afterwards.”

The two clubs have met 14 times in League Two since the 2007/08 season, and Stanley have a remarkable record against the Shrimps, winning 10 and drawing four of those fixtures.

But Coleman said that record will count for nothing come kick-off at the Store First Stadium tonight.

“We’ve got a good record in terms of being in the league,” he said.

“But I think it’s balanced out over the years, people get carried away with things like that.

“I seemed to have the jinx over Morecambe for a long while myself, and then I went to Rochdale I couldn’t beat them in three games.”

There are players on both sides who have played for the two clubs and remain friends, and Coleman feels it could be tougher for the players than the managers in the heat of battle.

“Sometimes it’s a bit more difficult as a player because it can get physical on the pitch,” he added. “With the best will in the world I can’t see me, Jimmy, Kenny and Jim fighting, but players want to win games and you’ve got to try and instill that into your own players.

“That doesn’t mean pushing the boundaries, that means taking your aggression to the legal limit and being controlled, and sometimes you can get caught up in the atmosphere of a derby.”

Stanley come into the derby on the back of a 1-1 draw at Newport County last week, but Coleman feels that his side haven’t got full reward for their performances of late, and he is keen for that to change, starting tonight.

“We’re desperate for the three points,” he added. “We feel we’ve been a little bit short changed over the last couple of weeks, the two games we’ve lost we possible shouldn’t have lost against Dagenham, and the game we drew we should never have drew, so we feel we’re a couple of points short of where we want to be and it would be nice to redress the balance tonight.”

Stanley have no new injury worries ahead of the game, but Kal Naismith will not be returning this week as he continues to deal with the death of his girlfriend.