Betsy pleased with resilient Crawley after Reds gain first point

The Reds manager said: “I am really pleased with the resilience and the character of the group today, it’s a tough place to come away from home.

"They won their last game at home 3-0 against Swindon, so to come away from here with a point is a good result. We had some quality chances, we hit the bar and James could have scored, if either of these had gone in we would be sitting on the bus home with three points."

How Crawley held Harrogate to a 0-0 draw.

Betsy touched on the fact that a number of adjustments had to be made in the starting line-up due to injuries, but he was very happy with the performance of the players who stepped in.

He said: “We had a number of senior players missing today with Dion out and George injured as well in the back line, we had to make some adjustments. The boys that came in did very well. The adaptability of the group was in full show today and I am really pleased with all the players application."

Betsy was full of praise for his defenders and highlighted Tony Craig as the stand-out performer. He said: “Tony led exceptionally well from the back, he was outstanding again. He’s played 400-500 league games, numerous clubs and maintained his services because he’s a fantastic professional and he's a fantastic player with and without the ball."

Betsy felt Crawley should have had a penalty, He added: “I think he got caught (James Balagizi) - the referee had a good game but I think that was a mistake and that was a clear penalty."

The boss was very happy with another clean sheet and said that scoring at the other end of the pitch would come in time.

He said: "You can’t do anything without a foundation, and a wise man once told me that if you can keep clean sheets you will be successful. We have done that in the last two games and it’s really pleasing.

"The final third stuff will come in time as we progress, we’re really pleased with the clean sheet, not so much the point because we have higher expectations. But we will take the point and move on to Tuesday."

Crawley host Northampton on Tuesday and AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.