STANLEY boss John Coleman is relishing the battle for promotion in League Two and ahead of tonight’s home game with Swindon Town declared: Bring it on.

The Reds can go second in the table with a victory over the Robins and three points will certainly take them into the automatic promotion spots heading into the last 16 games of the season.

And the final third of the season will contain plenty of twists and turns with Stanley facing Swindon twice and all the other top nine once.

Indeed, the final four fixtures see the Reds play four of the current top seven but rather than worry about the fixture list, Coleman sees an opportunity to take key points off promotion rivals.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: “It is a big issue trying to take points off your rivals and I think if you look at the run-in that we have got, we play nearly everyone around us towards the end of the season so bring it on.

“I think we generally perform better against the better teams so hopefully that will continue.”

And the Reds boss, whose side are seeking a fourth straight home win, believes plenty of teams will fear his team.

“There’s no point saying we have a tough game because every game is tough,” he added.

“You have to got to make it so that teams don’t want to play you. When teams fear you and respect you that shows how far you have come.”

Swindon make the trip to East Lancashire with the best away record in the division and having lost just one of their last seven matches.

David Flitcroft’s side will climb to fourth with a win of their own but Coleman is focussed on the carrot of second place for his side.

“I think it is good for my players,” the Reds chief said of seeing his side in the top three. “It gives them a little bit of a boost.

“The last time we had an opportunity to go second we fluffed our lines so let’s hope we don’t.

“We aren’t scared to mention that we want to get promoted because that is our aim.

“We know that we have to get a certain amount of wins to get promoted and that is what we want to do.

“I think there is quite a few teams who are jockeying for position who think they have got a chance of cementing their place in the play-offs and possibly looking at automatic promotion.

“I think it will be a good game because Swindon do try and play football, they will try and play and we will try and play so it should be an attractive game.

“We have got to be able to deal with anything the opposition throw at us, we have to impose ourselves and make it difficult for other teams with the problems we can pose.”