Coleman Keen to Keep a Clean Sheet Against the Saddlers Coleman Keen to Keep a Clean Sheet Against the Saddlers

Coleman Keen to Keep a Clean Sheet Against the Saddlers

Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman has spoken to club journalists ahead of this weekend's League One clash with Walsall, and discussed his desire to see his side earn their first clean sheet of the league season as they take on Dean Keates's side this weekend.
Coleman, who led his team to last season's League Two title, has seen Stanley bounce back from their opening-day defeat to Gillingham to go unbeaten in their last eight league outings, and thinks that a clean sheet is the next thing to tick off their League One wish-list.

Speaking via his club's official website - AccringtonStanley.co.uk - Coleman said; "I think that’s the one thing at the moment, we can’t seem to keep a clean sheet. We have got our first home win of the season and I think our performances at home have steadily improved.

"We didn’t perform as well as we could have against Gillingham on the opening day and then we improved against Charlton, Burton and Scunthorpe but couldn’t find that killer touch to win the games.

"We performed well on Saturday to beat AFC Wimbledon and a clean sheet is the next thing. It’s a mixture of organisation, luck and concentration and it’s something we are focusing on in training although it’s not playing on our minds.

"Last season we won a lot of games 1-0 as we got the goal and then had the belief to keep it tight at the back. We also knew, if teams were chasing the game and on the attack, that we had the firepower to catch them on the break.

"Then again, if we win all the games 2-1 so be it!"

Stanley's most recent visit to Banks's Stadium was a League Two clash which took place over a decade ago, and saw them defeated by three-goals-to-two as Kevin Harper, Dean Keates, and Martin Butler all netted to send the Lancashire-based side home without a point, despite Paul Mullin and Robbie Williams hitting the back of the net.

Coleman, who was also Stanley manager in 2007, admitted that his side struggled on that day and expects the Saddlers to provide a similar test this weekend as the relegation-backed Saddlers look to continue their fine start to the season.

He continued; "I don’t think we covered ourselves in glory in that game, it was our first year in the league. Walsall have done well, they have some good players and we know the way they play but they can probably say the same for us.

"They are doing well this season but it is an open league, people might not have expected them to be up there, they might not expect us to be in ninth place and it was like Shrewsbury last season, they surprised many.

"Expectations don’t matter, it’s how you perform."
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