John Coleman thinks Stanley’s second local derby in a week is the most important of the pair.

The Reds host League Two rivals Morecambe at the Wham Stadium tomorrow and will hope to get one over their old rivals and add a second league win of the campaign.

The Shrimps are top of the table and the Stanley manager expects them to arrive brimming with confidence.

“It’ll be a tougher game, definitely not as high profile but it certainly means more to me,” explained the former Morecambe striker. “We haven’t played as well as we can so far or hit anywhere near the speed that we need to hit. When we do we can be a dangerous proposition.

“Morecambe have found their feet, started really well and deservedly sit top of the table. Last year it was roles reversed and we only took a point from the two games against us. If we’d taken more we would’ve been promoted. We’ll probably go into this game as underdogs now.

“I played 270 odd times for Morecambe and you don’t have that amount of time at a club without having an affinity for them. I’ll always have a place in my heart for Morecambe – but I always want to beat them.”

Coleman and assistant Jimmy Bell go back a long way with Morecambe boss Jim Bentley and his number two Ken McKenna and though Coley’s pleased to see them doing well after a difficult 15/16 season he’s still hoping to defeat them tomorrow.

“They came in for a lot of flak last season which was undeserved in my opinion,” he said. “They are a great pair of football people and good managers. Fans want to dish out blame sometimes and unfortunately it’s the manager’s lot to bear the brunt of it. In their case I don’t think it was justified.

“We need to kickstart our season and the best way to do that is to win. We know how well Morecambe are doing and that makes it a tough ask but we also know we have good players and if we can get those good players playing well then we have a good chance.”