No straight jacket required for Coleman
If someone had told Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman that his side would play Leeds United in a cup semi-final a few years ago, he’d have said you were stark raving mad.
December 2009
When the popular Liverpudlian took over at the Crown Ground in 1999, nobody would have given side much chance of playing league football, let alone a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie against one of the biggest clubs in the country.
Languishing in the Northern Premier League when Coleman took over, he has steered Stanley to three promotions as champions and he is now looking forward to one of his club’s biggest games in recent times at Elland Road.
“If someone told me five or six years ago that we’d be preparing for a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area semi-final with Leeds, I’d have found a straightjacket for them.
“But we are looking forward to the tie and we can’t wait to take them on. It should be a great game.”
John said that the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy had already played a big part in his team’s season, and referred to a tremendous win at Oldham Athletic in round one, which boosted his players’ confidence massively.
He added: “The JPT has been a great competition for us. The win at Boundary Park certainly galvanized us and it gave the lads the belief to go on and get more good results away from home.”
The club’s longest serving manager will hope that is players will remember the performance as they prepare for an exceptionally tough game at the runaway League One leaders.
“Any team that wins the trophy will have to get past the best team at some point. They are the strongest left, but we will have more chance against them over 90 minutes and penalties than we would over two legs.
“I’ve got a few lads who are one booking away from a suspension as well, so they will need to be careful, as they all want to be available for the game.”
And despite what looks on paper to be the toughest draw that Coleman could have asked for, he remained upbeat about the whole prospect.
“It is better to play Leeds now. In fact, I said that I wanted them at home before the draw was made, so I have got the next best thing!”
Accrington Stanley will play Leeds United on Tuesday December 15 at 7.30pm at Elland Road.
Johnstone’s. Bringing colour to the beautiful game.
