Coleman has been in charge of Accrington Stanley for 10 years

Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman has urged supporters to start coming to watch the team again.

The League Two outfit narrowly avoided a winding-up order on Tuesday after repaying the remainder of the £308,000 owed to HM Revenue and Customs.

"We have to avoid getting into this situation again," Coleman told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"The club have to be managed better but it's the slump in attendances which is why we're in this position."

Coleman was reacting to criticism from supporters over the way the club has been run.

When you have a league club in the town you support it Accrington manager John Coleman

He feels the appointments of Ilyas Khan as non-executive chairman and Peter Marsden as president show they are moving in the right direction.

"People accuse you of running the town down, but there's two ways of approaching it," said Coleman.

"There's been a public outcry and a lot of name-calling saying that the club's been mismanaged.

"To an extent I can accept that but the big problem is that we haven't had the funds to manage.

"I know times are hard and people will choose to do what they want.

"If you haven't got a Football League club in the town and it's down to us being well-supported, then I could accept the criticism.

"But, when you have a league club in the town, you support it. Alternatively, you accept you don't have one and therefore you haven't got enough money to pay wages to get better players.

"You then struggle in the league, get relegated and fall to your natural level that your attendances dictate."

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