JOHN Coleman hopes Accrington Stanley will benefit from extra competition for places after making two loan signings ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Luton.

The Stanley boss has brought in Peterborough centre back Kieran Charnock and Rochdale winger Kallum Higginbotham for a month and believes it could provide the spark his squad need after taking only one point from their last seven games in League Two.

He said: “We were down to four fit defenders and young Jay Bell hasn’t played a lot of games, so we needed reinforcements.

“We’ve brought Kieran in and hopefully he will do a job tomorrow.

“Kallum has maybe lost his way a little bit at Rochdale this season but he did well every time I saw him play last season and hopefully he will give us a big boost in our attacking options.

“It gives everyone a spark but also we were losing players to injuries and suspensions and quickly you’ve got no competition for places.

“We’ll have Peter Cavanagh and Robbie Williams back from suspension after Saturday, so that’s healthy in defence.

“Adding Kallum, we’ve got Jimmy Ryan, Andrew Procter, John Miles, John Mullin and Rostyn Griffiths competing for midfield spots.

“And we’ve got Terry Gornell, Andy Smith, who is now scoring goals, Jamie Clarke and Paul Mullin all vying for forward spots, so we should have competition all over the park by next week.”

Coleman knows how important a result could be at Luton, having warned that the Hatters can still reach safety despite a 30-point deduction.

But he says his side can not afford to show any sympathy for Luton’s plight and hopes he will finally get a chance to celebrate his birthday – marred by the weekend defeat to Bradford – if Stanley get a result tomorrow.

And he remains pleased that Stanley have come so far during his tenure that they are even able to face Luton for the first time in their history.

But he said: “Ten years ago, if you thought of playing Luton you’d be carted off by men in white coats.

“But you can just be happy playing there or you can go out and prove that we have every right to be there and we are capable of competing in this league in every game we play.

“Apart from maybe the Gillingham game - and we only lost that 1-0 - I don’t think anyone’s really wiped the floor with us. We just need to turn positive performances into results.”

Peter Murphy could be out for up to six months if he needs an operation on the knee injury he sustained in the reserves last week.

Coleman said: “He’s torn ligaments. It’s a partial tear but we don’t whether he will have to have an operation yet.

“If he has to have it you’d be looking at six months.

“He’s also damaged the cartilage and got bruising to the bone. The bruising can take anythnig from six days to six months to heal anyway.

“We’ll know more when he sees the specialist again. But it’s looking like a very long-term injury.”

Bobby Grant may return to full training next week after rehabiliation on his knee at Lilleshall.