AFC Wimbledon v Crawley Town preview: Can Reds take advantage of some tired legs to progress in the FA Cup?

Crawley Town finally found out their opponent for the FA Cup second round on Thursday evening, as the game between Barrow and AFC Wimbledon ended with a win for the latter in a penalty shootout.
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This means the Red Devils will travel to Plough Lane on Sunday, looking to book a place in the third round of the FA Cup.

SEE ALSO Crawley find out FA Cup second round opponents following penalty drama between Barrow and AFC Wimbledon | Crawley Town fans pick their favourite FA Cup moments

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AFC Wimbledon couldn’t break down their League Two opponents Barrow in 120 minutes, as the game ended 0-0 but the Dons found a way to beat their lower league opposition on penalties.

Reds will be looking to keep former striker Ollie Palmer quiet on SundayReds will be looking to keep former striker Ollie Palmer quiet on Sunday
Reds will be looking to keep former striker Ollie Palmer quiet on Sunday

It’s now a short recovery for AFC Wimbledon, as they have until Sunday to recover from their 120 minutes of action on Thursday night.

This could leave some very tired legs in the Dons camp and Crawley could look to capitalise on this, with their last game coming on Tuesday evening. AFC Wimbledon also had a game Tuesday evening as well, so they are in the middle of a packed fixture list and will have to make full use of their squad. The League One side have had a decent start to their League One campaign, as they sit 12th in League One. Joe Pigott has been the key to the Dons’ decent start, with 6 goals to his name and being their standout player.

Another one of AFC Wimbledon’s strikers is former Crawley man Ollie Palmer, who is yet to register a goal for his new club since leaving Crawley. The Reds will be desperate to ensure he doesn’t get the goal against them and will know his strengths, should he be selected to play.

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Crawley come into the game in need of a victory, after suffering back-to-back home defeats.

A 3-0 defeat against Carlisle and a 2-1 defeat against Grimsby gave the Reds their first and second home defeats in a year. It was two very poor performances from Crawley and was very unlike Yems' side, who have been putting in some great performances this season.

Crawley will need to be better both defensively and offensively, as they struggled in both areas at points in both matches.

The FA Cup could provide the perfect chance to get away from the poor couple of results in the league, as we know from round one anything can happen in the FA Cup. It was a superb match last time out in the FA Cup when Crawley won that crazy game at Torquay 6-5.

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Since that game Crawley have played three league fixtures and have only managed to score two goals, whilst conceding six in the process.

Max Watters has grabbed both those two goals and he took his goal tally to nine in all competitions, when he struck a beautiful effort into the top corner against Grimsby on Tuesday night.

He’ll be looking to add to his tally and fire Crawley into the third round, where there is the potential of facing Premier League and Championship teams.

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