JOHN Coleman is backing his players to make it nine points from nine on the road tomorrow as they head to Stevenage – and says he would have not a second’s hesitation about going to war with any of his Accrington Stanley players.

The Reds head to former Conference foes Stevenage for the mid-table battle and he knows just what to expect from the trip to Broadhall Way and his clash with Boro boss Graham Westley.

“It’s a really hard game and they are a good side,” said Coleman.

“To be honest I am expecting a war down there – but I wouldn’t give a second thought about going to war with any of my lads.

“I am sure Graham would quite happily go to war with his men as well – it will be a good, in-your-face battle.”

Stevenage caught the nation’s imagination a month ago when they dumped Premier League side Newcastle out of the FA Cup in the third round.

And while their adventure along the road to Wembley was halted by Reading last weekend, Coleman reckons the feelgood factor could still be present at Broadhall Way.

“Obviously they got a massive lift with what happened in the FA Cup,” he said.

“But when that euphoria wears off you can sometimes slump – but I don’t think that’s happened to them.”

While Coleman knows Stanley can kick on and make a push towards the League Two play-offs, he feels disappointed that the Reds picked up just one point from back-to-back games against Shrewsbury Town and Morecambe at the Crown Ground.

And he feels hampered by the stop-start nature of the season with the weather intervening on a regular basis and games being postponed.

“It really is frustrating for everyone, on and off the field,” he said.

“And now we are kind of playing catch-up to a degree.

“It was important to get back on to the pitch on Tuesday after two weeks off because of the weather.

“We really needed Tuesday’s game to get back to action.

“But it is also frustrating that we have played two home games and only taken one point from them when we believed that we could have take six and really pushed ourselves into the mix.

“We could have beaten Morecambe right at the end of the game – but if I am being honest that would have been a little unfair on Morecambe.

“They played ever so well and we were forced to come from behind to get our point.

“That was the big positive for me from that game – and now we want to go to Stevenage feeling positive.”