STANLEY BID TO SHUT OUT OLD BOY JACKSON
ACCRINGTON Stanley manager John Coleman hopes former striker Kayden Jackson hits goals galore this season – but just not against his side. In his single season with the Lancashire outfit, Jackson netted 16 league goals as the club stormed to the League Two title in 2017-18. It brought him to the attention of Ipswich, who snapped him up for £1.6m in August 2018. In a struggling Ipswich side, Jackson notched just four goals in all of last season and the Blues were relegated from the Championship. However, the 25-year-old is back in the goalscoring groove again this season with six league goals to his name as the Tractor Boys steam along at the top of League One. And he’ll be hoping his Wham Stadium return is more successful than last term – Accrington knocked Ipswich out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 third round win in January. “I expect him to get a good reception,” said Coleman. “He’s started this season well and he’s a cracking lad, a bubbly personality. He’s done well and I have a lot of time for him. I hope he carries on having a great season – but not against us.” Ipswich head north with an unbeaten record and Coleman believes manager Paul Lambert and his troops have done well to banish last season’s nightmare from their memory banks. “They deserve a lot of credit,” he said. “After getting relegated last year, it’s not easy to make a strong start to the next campaign. I’ve seen them a couple of times and they defend well and play some good football. However, we thrive on these kinds of games and raise our game. It should be a good game for the neutral.” But Coleman insists being the first team to beat the Suffolk club in the league this season isn’t the main incentive for his side this afternoon. They were, after all, 20th in the table heading into the weekend, just above the drop zone. A run of four league games without defeat came to an end at Rochdale last weekend – Accy lost 2-1, ruining Coleman’s 57th birthday in the process – and left them looking over their shoulders. “It’s not us wanting to stop them, it’s us wanting to get three points,” said the Liverpudlian. “We played them in the FA Cup last season and won, though they were in a different place then. They will probably want to right a few wrongs.” Coleman is eager for Stanley to get back on track following their Rochdale setback, but believes there are positive signs. “Everyone is scratching their heads wondering how we haven’t won the game,” said the former Dale boss. “Anyone who saw us will say we are improving – it was probably one of our better performances. We are playing better football. “We’ve got a lot of inexperienced players in the side, but they are getting more experience every week. We have to stick to our guns and play through it. “We’ve got good characters in the dressing room, a good mentality and work ethic. We are looking forward to Sunday.”