JOHN Coleman admitted he was bitterly disappointed as his Accrington Stanley bowed out of the FA Cup to Premier League Fulham on Saturday.

And Coleman says he now has a job on his hands to get the Reds firing for tomorrow night’s crucial League Two clash with Aldershot.

Stanley were beaten 3-1 by the Londoners despite a brave, battling display with just 10 men for more than 45 minutes following the dismissal of Darran Kempson.

And while the plaudits were all Stanley’s, Coleman said: “We have a massive game with Aldershot on Tuesday and I have to try and get the lads legs going for that.

“We are in a great position in the league but it will be tough against Aldershot and if I were them I would be licking my lips at the prospect of coming up here because history tells you that after a big game like the cup tie, teams can struggle in their next one and we don’t want that to happen.

“We can’t get to Wembley in the FA Cup but maybe we can get there via the play-offs.”

Stanley were more than a match for Fulham and hit back just three minutes after they fell behind.

“I am disappointed with the result and with the three goals we conceded,” Coleman said. “And I would be lying if I said otherwise. I thought we were the better team until they scored their second goal, but once we went down to 10 men we got a bit disjointed.

“Maybe that’s my fault for putting the extra striker on as soon as we went down to 2-1. "Maybe next time I will think more about it rather than making the substitution straight away. But we are all learning.”