Crawley Town boss gives five word answer when asked about EFL Trophy trip to Wycombe

The Reds face Huddersfield Town this weekend, with Elliot’s team looking to continue their improved form against a big team as they look to push away from the relegation zone.

But the amount of fixtures Crawley have been playing will not help, especially after their 0-0 draw to Burton Albion on Tuesday night, and that they have another Tuesday noght fixture next week, this time in the EFL Trophy against top of the league Wycombe.

When asked if it was a game they could do without, Elliot jokingly said: “Am I allowed to say yes? I’ve not been in the football league as a coach long enough, but as a player I didn’t like them games, because I just felt that you're playing nearly 50 games a season, and then you're playing in these competitions as well, which is geared to probably more under 21 players more than it is geared to our players.

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“But it does give opportunities for players to play games, and I do think it’s worthwhile, but the scheduling is obviously tough when it comes to Saturday-Tuesday, Saturday-Tuesday.

“When the game starts, we want to win it, and we will obviously have to have one mind on Bristol Rovers as well, still a chaotic ten days to go before we get a normal week.

“It’s not a criticism, it is what it is.”

The Reds manager will look at the positives, with the game being a chance to play players who have not had as many minutes this season.

One footballer who fits that category is Tyreece John-Jules, with the former Arsenal Academy player having recovered from a long injury and needs game time to get him back to full fitness.

Elliot said: “We will just have to use it as an opportunity to get players minutes, whether we can get Ty (Tyreece John-Jules) some minutes, we need to monitor his fitness. He’s been out for nine/ten months without being on grass, so we need to make sure when he comes back, he does whether he gets minutes on Tuesday, that’s acceptable for him.”