Crawley Town boss wants players 'knocking on his door' after EFL Trophy win against Bristol Rovers

It was a tough start for the home team, with Rovers on the front foot for much of the first half, with Corey Addai keeping Crawley in the game before Luke Thomas finished from close range after dispossessing Aaron Henry.

Crawley came out into the second half a different team, and goals from Jack Roles and Harry Forster earned a record-breaking victory for The Reds – marking the furthest they have been in the competition.

Lindsey said: “Really proud of the team, I thought they dug in and showed real character, especially in the second half.”

Lindsey has used this competition to give a chance to players who do not normally play in the league, fielding a young, rotated squad, with Lindsey wanting these players to be knocking on his door for more game time.

Lindsey said: “That’s what I want, I want players to be knocking on my door, but I want them to knock on my door because they feel they have to. Some of them didn’t warrant that in the first half, certainly did in the second half, I thought every single one was brilliant in the second half.”

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After a slow first half display, The Reds were lucky not to be multiple goals down, with Addai making multiple saves to keep his team in the game in the first half before having barely anything to do in the second half.

Lindsey has recently demoted Addai from the number one role, opting for Fulham loanee Luca Ashby-Hammond in recent fixtures, but has praised the professionalism from Addai in recent weeks.

He said: “I thought Corey was outstanding tonight. His attitude has been class, I think that he’s showed a real professionalism since being out the team which is one thing I kind of kept my eye on. Are they doing the right thing, are they being the right professional, and Corey’s certainly been that.”

Another player getting credit from the gaffer was Forster, who signed to Crawley from Bromley in the summer but has had a slow start to life in West Sussex but is still pushing for a first team place and knocking on Lindsey’s door to try to make it happen. Lindsey said: “I do see it in training from Harry, he wants to play in the first team, and he knocks on my door quite a lot which I like as it shows that he cares. At times that I have spoke to him, I want a little bit more from him when he comes on the pitch, and we certainly saw that tonight. I thought he was very good tonight.”

Crawley will find out their opposition in the next round of the cup In Friday’s draw, and they return to league action on Saturday away to struggling Colchester, with The Reds looking to turn their poor away form around and kick on after a special win last night.