Crawley Town captain makes admission on whether he wants to know scores during vital Salford City clash
Crawley Town captain Jay Williams admitted he wants to know the scores elsewhere in League Two on Saturday as the relegation battle goes down to a nail-biting final day.
The Reds, currently 22nd, take on promotion-pushing Salford City at the Broadfield Stadium with only goal difference separating them from the bottom-two.
Harrogate Town sit a place below and host in-form Barnet at the weekend, meaning the Reds must match or better the Sulphurites’ result to secure safety.
Bottom-club Barrow are three points adrift and eight goals worse off than Crawley, leaving them with a mountain to climb against 21st-placed Newport County – who are a point above the Reds.
Tranmere Rovers (20th) host play-off hopefuls Grimsby Town and are level on points with Newport. It is important to note that the Reds’ goal difference (-24) is the highest of the bottom-five.
When asked if the players will want to be kept in the loop on Saturday, Williams said: “I can't speak for everyone, but I want to know.
“If it's 0-0 and Harrogate have scored, I want to know that we now need to go for it.
“I want to know if Cambridge are winning and Salford can't go up any more. I can tell the Salford players, ‘look, you're done now. You're in the play-offs, so settle down a bit.’”
Fourth-placed Salford have a lot riding on this game too, with automatic promotion within reach if they can make up the point gap to third-placed Cambridge United on the final day.
On whether that could play into Crawley’s hands, Williams said: “I don’t think it matters. I really don’t.
“They've obviously got something to play for, which will add an edge to the game that maybe the past two games haven't had.
“But I thrive off that and I know that changing room thrives off that and we'll be ready come Saturday.”
The Reds captain has started all six games since Colin Kazim-Richards' arrival as head coach and provided his perspective on the new boss’ tenure so far.
He said: “I think it's difficult because he's come in at a point where he can't put his full idea in. It's more of, we need to be safe.
“I think next season will obviously show what he wants to bring. But, it's obviously different. Scott had a certain way of thinking. Colin obviously has his own way of thinking. "We're all just on the same boat and we want to get safety, and I think that's the focus at the moment.”
As of Thursday morning, the club confirmed on X that just over 150 tickets remain as the Broadfield approaches a sell-out crowd for a game that will define their EFL future.