ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman says the 2-1 defeat to Shrewsbury Town should serve as a reality check for the club.

A brace from Bobby Grant, a former Stanley player, gave the promotion-chasing Shrews all three points on a rain-sodden night at the Store First Stadium.

“We should take a step back sometimes and be a little bit realistic,” Coleman said.

“We have the lowest budget in the league but I’ve got people coming up to me at the end when we’ve conceded late on having a go at me for my team selection.

“People can criticise me all they want, but when they criticise the team, who are giving their all, it’s annoying because they’ve ran themselves into the ground tonight after doing the same on Saturday at Luton.

“They had a long trip, spent eight hours on a coach, and have worked ever so hard but come away with nothing from both games - nobody is hurting more than them.

“I know the fans are frustrated but I think we should have a reality check sometimes.”

Coleman said before the match his team were like a rubber dinghy in comparison to Shrewsbury as the QE2 in the League Two dockyard, but was pleased with how his side performed against Micky Mellon’s table-toppers.

“You have to take encouragement from the performance, even if you can’t from the result,” he said.

“We’re disappointed not to take something from the game which shows how well we’re doing as a club.

“You only have to look at the way they celebrated at the end - they knew they were fortunate to win and how difficult it is to win here.

“We haven’t got the ability to compete with these teams in the open market - I can’t spend £300,000 on a striker - so we have to rely on spirit.

“But Shrewsbury are top of the league for a reason. They have a budget, stadium and training facilities that dwarf ours, yet some people seem to think we have a divine right to beat them.

“We’ve given it a good go and on another night we’d have won.”