ACCRINGTON Stanley striker Paul Mullin says he would gladly swap his North West League Two footballer of the Year award for a play-off spot this season.

The 34-year-old hitman, who scored 13 goals last term, lifted the award at a star-studded event at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on Monday night after beating off former Stockport striker Liam Dickinson and Rochdale Gary Jones to land the prestigious award.

But Mullin admitted he would sacrifice personal glory in order to help the Reds make it into the end of season showdown and be in with a chance of promotion to League One.

He said: “It was a great honour to get the award. It was a really good night and to be in the company of people like Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Tom Finney and Ian Rush was a great honour.

“I had a decent season but it wasn’t enjoyable at times, especially around the Christmas period when it became a real struggle.

“In the end, it was a success because we stayed up but personally I would have liked to have scored more goals.

“I would certainly swap the award if it meant we could make the play-offs this season because I have an ambition to play at a higher level.

“It’s certainly no fun at the bottom of the table but I believe this squad is capable of being in the shake-up at the end of the season.”

And Mullin is hoping his side can build on the 3-0 demolition the Reds imposed on Bournemouth at the weekend when they travel to Saltergate to take on Chesterfield.

He added: “The Bournemouth game was over inside the first 25 minutes, which was a relief because, after the game on the Thursday night, the lads were a bit tired.

“We’ve steadily improved over the last few weeks and I feel we are a stronger unit all round.

“But we need to be more consistent if we’re going to start climbing the table.”