Crawley Town boss heads into Exeter cup tie bouyed by win over Bradford

​The manager said his players had perfectly executed the game plan they’d been working on – while fans did their bit by creating a ‘proper atmosphere’ that helped the team prevail.

Debutant Will Wright’s first-half free-kick secured the points and put the Reds in buoyant mood as they go to Exeter in the Caraboa Cup tonight (see news from that at sussexworld.co.uk later) and plan for Saturday’s first League Two away trip, to Salford.

Lindsey said he was ‘really pleased’ with a good performance. "Before the game we spoke about being brave, it took us a while to get into our flow but once we started passing it and doing the stuff we’d worked on at the training ground. it became a better game for us,” he said.

"We’re trying to play a different formation, we have a certain way of how we defend, a certain way of how we attack, and there’s a lot of detail that’s gone into it.

"One thing I wanted to see was the players be brave and take it out there on to the pitch in a really big game against a good side. And I thought we did it perfectly."

Dion Conroy, scorer Wright and another new man, Jay Williams, were among players to win particular praise from Lindsey. Conroy had not played a minute of pre-season but played 90 minutes and the boss said: “He was outstanding – both of them (the centre halves) were.”

"The plan was for Dion to do 60 to 70 minutes but because they had a man sent off we felt he could probably see it through which he did, so I’m delighted he’s got his first 90 minutes under his belt.”

On Williams’ impressive league debut Lindsey said: "He’s a tough kid, doesn’t mind a tackle. He gets into good areas, he marks well in the box.”

The ground welcomed a bumper 3,883 crowd and Lindsey praised supporters for giving the Reds some fervent backing.

"It was a proper atmosphere at the start and they were excellent all the way through the game. They’re brilliant. I’ve got a good connection and long may that continue.”