ROOTED to the bottom of the league, bullish Forest Green boss Mark Cooper says he has the backing of chairman Dale Vince after seeing his side slip to their third straight League Two defeat.

Seamus Conneely smacked a fortuitous 61st minute goal to hand third-placed Accrington the points, but Cooper felt his side deserved more.

“I thought that was our best performance of the season,” claimed Cooper.

“We controlled the game, but when you struggle, they have a little bit of a half-chance and it hits both posts and goes in.”

Rovers bossed the first-half, but were stung after the break. However, Cooper was more than happy with the performance, which almost saw Drissa Traore snatch a point in the dying embers of the match.

Cooper added: “We can’t do much more than that today - and I thought we were really good.

“I don’t feel any pressure from above me, only pressure that I put on myself, because I want to win games and I think it’s important that I keep any pressure away from the players and any stick that’s flying comes towards me and not the players.

“Time waits for no man and we’re in a results business, I understand that, but I think there is a big project here to be done and we’re going to try and do that and I’m convinced one win turns everything around.”

Stanley boss John Coleman felt his side's victory was tough on  Forest Green.

He said: "For an hour, Forest Green ran rings around us. You would have thought they were the team at the top of the table and we were the one at the bottom. I have to take my hat off to them for the way they set up and played. If they carry on playing like that, they'll rocket up the table for sure. I think they can justifiably feel disappointed to have got nothing out of the game, but that's the way it goes when you're down the bottom. I've been there and I know.

"The dominated the game and forced us to change our system.But once we brought on Scotty Brown, I thought we improved and got a foothold in the game. Conneely took his goal well and then we saw the game out pretty well. We didn't play the attacking football we know we are capable of, but I'll definitely settle for the clean sheet."