AS Accrington Stanley prepare to officially launch their ‘2011 Play-Off Bid’ campaign this week, boss John Coleman believes striker Terry Gornell could be the man to spearhead their promotion challenge.

Gornell was on the scoresheet as Stanley won 2-1 at Cheltenham on Saturday to make it 10 points from a possible 12, helping them climb from 20th in League Two to the top half in the space of two weeks.

The 21-year-old now has eight goals since he returned to the club in August on a permanent basis after spending a period on loan from Tranmere two seasons ago.

Gornell had gone seven games without a goal before his strike against Chesterfield on January 3 but Coleman has hailed his displays in a lone striker’s role this term.

“I think Terry Gornell is fast becoming possibly the best striker in the league,” said Coleman.

“His work rate is magnificent, he’d gone through a spell where he hadn’t scored for a while but he broke that the other week.

“His hold-up play is magnificent and he’s got stronger since he came back to us for the second time around. It’s his willingness to work, his willingness to run the channels, he’s a handful for defenders and he’s very intelligent with his link-up play.

“He’s got a bright future ahead of him. He’s young enough to have a great career in the game.”

Stanley host Shrewsbury tonight in a match that had been due to take place on December 4, only for the cold weather to intervene.