Colchester United boss Danny Cowley on Accrington Stanley

Coleman has managed more than 1,200 games, the bulk of them at Accrington where he has enjoyed considerable success in his two spells there, including promotion to League One in 2018.

Accrington are currently pushing to clinch a play-off place in League Two this season and U’s head coach Cowley says they are a great club.

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Cowley said: “There’s a lot to admire and we know exactly how tough the game is going to be.

“They’re a team that have had three clean sheets in their last four and they’re in a good moment.

“They’ve got a big squad, lots of players and really competitive – I know they’ve had injuries in recent weeks but lots of players and lots of work for us to do, in terms of our preparation for the game.

“I know the guys there John (Coleman) and Jimmy (Bell) really well and have managed against them on so many occasions.

“They’re a great club and have come from non-league themselves and over-achieved and almost everybody now expects them to be at the top end of League Two, because of the way that they’ve over-achieved.

“Even when they were in League One, they were always such a competitive team and John is a very intelligent manager.

“He knows firstly how he wants his teams to play and then recruits to suit his game idea.

“He’s a really good motivator and as a consequence, creates a really competitive team.

“They’re not just competitive by the way - they’ve got some really good players.

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“They always seem to be able to unearth these players who are under-rated or under-valued and all of a sudden, they come in and have a real influence in the Football League.”

Cowley has had plenty of games against Coleman’s Accrington side, over the years.

“John just absolutely loves football,” added Cowley.

“I can remember playing them on the opening day of the season – Accrington Stanley v Lincoln City.

“It was Colby Bishop’s first-ever Football League game and we ended up signing him for Portsmouth and he was a great player for us.

“We ended up beating them 2-0 on the day and John was really annoyed with his Accrington team.

“He ended up staying in our office afterwards and then Andy Holt, the owner, came and joined him from the coach.

“They ended up opening a bottle of wine afterwards and it was literally 7.15pm - he’d left the players on the coach!

“He said ‘leave them there – they’ve wasted 90 minutes of my life, let me waste 90 minutes of theirs!’

“They’re such good company and they just love football.

“He’s a great guy and has done incredibly well – rags to riches and there’s a lot to admire, for sure.”