Stanley boss John Coleman says his side must keep looking forward as they aim to beat the drop.

The Reds sit two points above the drop zone following Tuesday night’s 3-1 defeat against Portsmouth at the Wham Stadium.

Stanley played for 80 minutes with a man down after goalkeeper Lukas Jensen was sent off on 10 minutes for catching Paddy Lane who was charging through.

From the resulting free kick on 13 minutes, Joe Pigott’s looping header beat Toby Savin, who had replaced Jensen in goal.

Pompey, hoping to make a late charge for the play-offs, made it two on 57 minutes when Reeco Hackett rifled home from the edge of the area.

Referee David Rock showed Pigott a red card for what was judged a dangerous challenge on Savin in the 66th minute.

On 81 minutes, Colby Bishop fired home against his former club for his 20th goal of the season before Korede Adedoyin headed home a consolation in the 88th minute for Stanley.

“I am flabbergasted by the red card (for Jensen), it wasn’t denying a goalscoring opportunity, their lad has gone on and shot over but we have got to defend better than that,” said Coleman.

“But what I can say is that we were magnificent from then onwards, we took the game to them.

“We had some glorious chances, we hit the bar twice, but you have to take them when you are on top.

“It did get a bit bitty in the second half and we have conceded three poor goals. I feel harshly done by as we deserved more from the game but circumstances conspired against us.

“We have got to take the positives and look forward. We could have got ourselves out of the mix at the bottom and put ourselves in a favourable position to press on, but we can’t look back now.”