ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman believes three could be their magic number.

The Reds sprang up to the Nationwide Conference after three years in the UniBond Premier Division. And the same amount of time ensued before their next promotion back to the Football League which they secured with a 1-0 win at Woking on April 15.

Now Coleman has targeted another leap up in a similar timescale.

"I think that you need at least maybe a year to get your head round what you're dealing with and what you're playing against. Then you can have a good push to try to make the play-offs in the following season," he said.

"The last three years have been very much a learning curve.

"But it's been an adventure in the Conference and I'm sure the fans have enjoyed it.

"Hopefully they'll have a chance to have another adventure."

But Coleman has revealed how his Conference ambitions didn't quite go to plan.

"I fully envisaged, certainly in the second season, to make the play-offs and I think we had a team good enough to make the play-offs last season. We just didn't do ourselves justice," he said.

"But we've had a chance to put that right and go one step further.

"We're not the biggest club in the world, and I think if it was looked at strictly on budgets I don't think we'd be in the top 10, so that's a testament to how well the club's run and how good an appetite our players have shown."

Despite their comparatively small budget, Coleman knows he needs to bring in at least four new players - a figure he targeted before midfielder Steve Jagielka and goalkeeper Danny Alcock were released.

And, after missing out on Chester's Stewart Drummond and York's Andy Bishop, he is aiming to make a League One midfielder his first summer signing.

"I was looking ahead for next year even before we won the title," he said.

"I need to strengthen my squad. The minute you think you've got the right squad you'll stand still.

"I'm still looking to bring four or five players in.

"To be fair I've been looking to bring three or four players in since January, it's just the right ones haven't materialised."