KARL Robinson has nothing but praise for Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman and his longevity with the club.

The duo are both in the top five longest-serving bosses in the Football League, with Coleman third on the list, and Robinson in fifth.

Coleman has been at Stanley since September 2014, and led the club to the Sky Bet League Two title during the 2017/18 season.

Only Harrogate Town’s Simon Weaver, and Gareth Ainsworth at Wycombe Wanderers, have been in charge of a Football League club longer than Coleman.

Robinson described his managerial counterpart as a ‘one of a kind’.

“He’s one of the real good people, we know how hard they work to make Accrington competitive year in, year out,” said Robinson.

“I don’t know how he does it, I honestly don’t.

“I don’t know how he manages that strength to keep going.

“Staying in the game is also about development of the club, not just the results on the Saturday.

“It’s also about putting the football club first, and Coley does that on a consistent basis.

“He’s one of a kind, he’s one of them people that will certainly be remembered in the game for a long time because of what he’s done there and the longevity he’s brought to that.”

Among Accrington’s threats will be the long throw-in of Blackpool loanee Doug Tharme.

Robinson said United have been working on ways to negate the impact Tharme’s throws can have.

He said: “It’s something we’ve already started looking at one or two things.

“If the delivery is correct and the ability to attack it in the right way, set plays are always difficult to defend, just like they’re difficult for them to defend if we do it right.

“They have a long throw, they’re very well-organised from set plays and work some really good angles.

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“Accrington’s always a difficult place to play, everyone knows that.

“It’s certainly one of them when you look at the calendar, you know it’s going to be a really difficult one.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re at our best.”

Half a dozen games in League One kick off at 7.45pm this evening, while four more have earlier start times tomorrow.

With Wycombe hosting Portsmouth on Sunday, it means United’s trip to Lancashire is the only third tier match kicking off at 3pm on Saturday.

Robinson says it will make no difference to his side, but joked a Friday evening match would’ve allowed him to watch World Cup round of 16 games at the weekend.

He said: “For us, playing at three o’clock on the Saturday is almost the norm.

“I don’t like the morning kick-offs, I think it’s hard for fans to get up and get to games, especially if you’ve got to travel so far.

“If we were offered an early kick-off, I’m not sure whether we’d take it because fans would be leaving at 7.30 or eight o’clock to get there on time.

“For me, it makes no difference but it would’ve been nice to play Friday night, to have the weekend and enjoy the World Cup.”