JOHN Coleman joked that a bit of his old magic had rubbed off on Stanley striker Billy Kee after the frontman delivered a match-winning performance wearing his manager’s boots to inspire the Reds to a 3-2 League One win at Oxford United.

The Reds twice trailed, to goals from Gavin Whyte and Marcus Browne, but after Ross Sykes equalised for the first time before the break, Kee netted a second half brace, the second from the spot, to complete the turnaround and earn Stanley the points.

“Billy was back to his best, in the last half an hour he was unplayable,” said Coleman.

“He won every challenge he went for, was bringing people into play left right and centre and got his two goals.

“I must say he was wearing my boots so I think some of my old magic must have rubbed off on him!

“Yesterday morning he was a doubt, the bottom of his foot was inflamed and he could hardly walk.

“I convinced him to try my boots to see if it would aleveate the pain because they are old fashioned ones and are quite comfortable and he tried them on yesterday and decided to give it a go and he has got out of jail.”

Coleman felt there was plenty of room for improvement from his side despite the victory which lifted the Reds up to 10th in the early-season table.

He added: “We can play a lot better than that and I think Oxford will feel aggrieved they haven’t got something out of the game and for big periods they were better than us.

“We have shown unbelievable character yet again and we have shown our fight and determination not once but twice but we know we have got to improve.

“We were giving the ball away so cheaply it was embarrassing.

“We won’t get away with that every week.

“I think we improved after the break and the last 15 minutes was probably our best spell and we limited them to little or no chances late on and we could have another goal ourselves. The fact that we have finished the game so strongly, like we did on Saturday (against Charlton) bodes well for the future but we can’t be wasteful in possession like we have been but we know we can improve.”