Crawley Town chief gives statement on why Tom Nichols was left out of Saturday's squad to face Swindon Town

Nichols had given the club’s preview to the game with Swindon Town on Thursday, but he was a notable absence from the squad on Saturday – leading to a lot of speculation from fans as to why.

This was further added to by new manager Matthew Etherington who said after the game it was a decision ‘out of his hands’. And today Galley told the Crawley Observer how the decision was made to leave him out of the squad.

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He said: “Last week, we received an offer and some strong interest for Tom Nichols and we, as an organisation that believes in a collaborative approach, felt that this was an unnecessary distraction for Matthew’s first game in charge.

"Tom is a fantastic professional and continues to work hard and give his all to the club.”

It will be no surprise to Reds fans a number of clubs are interested in ‘Super’ Tom after his performances in the last couple of seasons. And over the last couple of years League One clubs have reportedly shown interest in signing him.

Football website therealefl.co.uk ran a story last week that Bradford City were interested in signing Nichols and striker partner Ashley Nadesan while other sources have told the Crawley Observer Colchester United are also interested.

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