Crawley Town display pleases Elliot – failure to beat Burton frustrates him


The away team took the lead through Rumarn Burrell, who ran on to a ball over the top of the Crawley defence before cutting inside and finishing past Jojo Wollacott.
The Reds levelled in the second half through Tola Showunmi, who latched on to a loose ball in the box before hitting a looping effort with the outside of his boot over Max Crocombe and into the net.
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Hide AdCrawley kept pushing for a winner, but could not put the ball in the back of the net, to the frustration of Elliot.
He said he was pleased with the overall defensive display but not with the goal they let in, which he said was an unacceptable one to concede. “It was the least Jojo [Wollacott] had to do in a half this season,” he said.
“It’s just disappointing because it's such a good opportunity for us to get the three points.”
He said he saw intensity from the players and added: “You look at it and there are the sort of performances that are going to get us out of this.
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Hide Ad“Everyone gauges it as a six pointer, and if it was in May then I would understand, but the thing for me is that the performance was there.
“The important thing for me is that we are back creating the chances, managing the game and seeing the things we are working on.”
It was another game where Crawley struggled to find the net, but were at least creating dangerous chances, and they were unlucky not to put more of them away.
Things picked up in the second half after Showunmi’s goal, where the Reds reacted to the fans and started to play much better.
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Hide AdElliot said: “Overall, it's frustrating because we created as many chances in the first half as we did in the second half, and it was good we had the momentum we were able to react to it, so it was good to see us on the front foot.
“For me there are a lot of positives to take from that. Forget the result, but I thought we dominated the game. They had a couple of opportunities which disappointingly came from our mistakes but other than that it was just a couple of transitional moments.
“In terms of creation, I thought we were better, and the subs influenced the game very well. That’s more where we were before the Christmas period, so I hope we emulate that.
“With Junior coming back, he’s still not quite where his sharpness is but he still causes a threat, and Flinty is not too far away, Ben Radcliffe coming in, Toby Mullarkey back in and Ben Radcliffe was excellent. There are positive signs there, and I am that type of person who looks at them.”
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Hide AdThis was the first game the Reds had played for a fortnight, which has given a lot of time to reset and prepare for the next games.
Their next game is away to Stockport, which will prove to be a tricky fixture for Crawley with County sitting just inside the play-off zone.
When asked whether Elliot wanted that game sooner due to the lack of recent games, he said: “The week off is good, because we can keep working. Today we saw a massive improvement in terms of having a couple of weeks to work with the group, work with the lads.
“It gives the other lads an extra week of fitness, the likes of [Ronan] Darcy, he’s trained a bit this week so hopefully he will be back. We know we are going into a tough period so we will have more bodies going into that, which is good.”
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Hide AdWith a tough period coming up for the Reds, they will need as many fit players as possible, and with the January transfer window still open it is the perfect chance for Elliot to add to his squad.
When asked if there will be more arrivals, Elliot said: “I think so. There is so much in this squad which is positive, and there is so much to like, but I do think we need a bit extra.
“We have to see how Toby [Mullarkey] is, but he’s been struggling with his back for a long time, and I think it needs to be known. Toby’s been playing with a serious back injury, and we’ve had to manage his load a lot.
“With the resources we have and the way we recruit, it may not be as simple as you want it to be, but I think we need to make sure we keep improving as a squad, as a club, and hopefully that will come.
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Hide AdI thought that Ben Radcliffe was excellent again. I thought he made good decisions, he was aggressive in the air, came and gave us a good physical profile and because I’ve worked with him before he knows what I want in terms of the play.”
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