ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman isn’t too concerned with the poor attendance for Tuesday night’s 3-1 win over Hartlepool, after the Reds recorded their lowest attendance since they were in the UniBond League.

Only 947 people were at the Store First Stadium to see Stanley bounce back from two consecutive defeats, with 109 of those in the away end.

It was Stanley’s first home league crowd below the 1,000 mark since 959 watched them 2-1 win against Woking in the Conference on September 2, 2005, and it was also the lowest crowd for a Football League game since 849 watched Wimbledon play Rotherham in the Championship in 2002 at Selhurst Park.

That attendance was down to the fact that Wimbledon fans were boycotting the club over the imminent move to Milton Keynes, and you have to go back to March 1998 to find the next lowest crowd, when Doncaster were watched by 739 at home to Barnet.

Heavy rain and strong winds, caused by the tail end of Hurricane Gonzalo hitting the country, was probably a factor in putting a lot of fans off attending the game, but Coleman doesn’t believe it makes a difference to the performance of his side.

“If there were nine people there we’ve got a duty to try and win for them nine people,” he said. “We’ve got a duty to try and win for ourselves and we’ve got a duty to try and make our own atmosphere. The atmosphere was still quite good on Tuesday night.

“It never bothered me as a player how many people I played in front of. I used to play on a Sunday morning and there were three men and a dog there and I would still celebrate when I scored like it was Wembley. The crowd size, while it is vital to keep the going, is irrelevant to how you should perform.

“Obviously the better atmosphere can help you and we’re always looking for that, but you can play well in front of five people and you can play badly in front of 5,000.”

Those who braved the cold were rewarded with a Stanley victory, and an outstanding individual strike by Shay McCartan, who only came into the side because Nicky Hunt was experiencing chest pains.

“He’s had a couple of tests and he was having pains in his chest,” said Coleman. “You can’t risk anything with that, you’ve seen what’s happened lately in football and we’re never going to risk anyones health.

“Happily he’s had the all-clear from the check-up he has had and he should be able to resume training (today).”

The decision to bring McCartan in, switch Dean Winnard to right back and pull Lee Molyneux to left back was vindicated with the former Burnley forward scoring two of the three goals.

With just under half an hour remaining Coleman switched Winnard back to the left, and moved Luke Joyce to right back.

“I had a couple of big decisions to make, with losing Nicky as well,” said Coleman.

“Thankfully we got it right.”