ACCRINGTON Stanley midfielder Jimmy Ryan has given the thumbs-up to the unusual half-time warm-up routine used for the first time against Bradford.

With Stanley leading 1-0 at half time, boss John Coleman sent his players back out five minutes before the start of the second half to do a five-a-side drill on the pitch at the Fraser Eagle Stadium.

It was a measure employed to try to counteract the Reds’ second-half woes this season - they have scored six goals and conceded five before the interval in their 12 matches this season, but have scored only five and conceded 13 in the second period.

And, although they eventually lost 3-2, Stanley did start the second half well against Bradford with Terry Gornell finding the net.

Ryan said: “Sometimes we think sitting in the dressing room for 15 or 20 minutes gets you a bit lethargic.

“So we just wanted to get out there, get the blood going again and maybe start the second half sharper, which we did and got a goal early on, so obviously it worked.”

Asked whether he felt the new routine had worked, Coleman said: “We started the second half better than that so maybe it did. But we finished it badly.”