We should be aiming higher - Bell

Stanley's management duo John Coleman and Jimmy Bell (Getty)

Assistant manager Jimmy Bell is concerned that Accrington might get a reputation for being under-performers.

Stanley are 18th in League Two, the same place they finished in their first season back in the Football League.

"We believe we should be competing with the likes of Stockport and Rochdale," Bell told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"We think we're as good as them and we believe we should be in there battling away with them. So it's something we're looking to emulate."

Inconsistency has become a worrying trend at the Fraser Eagle Stadium. And that is something Bell is keen to eradicate.

"The better players you get the more consistent they are," he said. "We've just been up and down all season and we've been scratching our heads every game wondering why we have been like that.

"For me and John Coleman the work starts as soon as the season ends. It's not a nine-month season. For us it's 12 months."