Crawley Town out of the FA Cup: Lewis Young reveals he wanted to make ten substitutions at half-time against Accrington Stanley

The Reds suffered a first defeat under interim boss Lewis Young, with veteran striker Shaun Whalley netting a hat-trick for League One Stanley in a 4-1 victory.

Crawley, who conceded within the first minute, found themselves 3-1 down at half-time and Young responded by making a double substitution – Aramide Oteh and Joel Lynch replacing Travis Johnson and Jack Powell.

"I asked the fourth official if I could take off ten and he said no,” Young admitted post-match. "I just needed to change the team.

"For me, the first half was nowhere near it. There wasn’t much atmosphere round the crowd or round the boys. We weren’t exactly getting the crowd going.

"I knew I needed to make a change to change the flow of the game.”

Young said the Reds created some ‘big chances’ in the second-half, pointing in particular to one effort from Jayden Davis, which was brilliantly cleared off the line.

"But I don’t forget that they [Accrington Stanley) created a lot as well,” he said.

“When you concede after a minute, it becomes a really tough test and a tough game.

"No matter what, the boys will give it their all and we still had chances until the 93rd and 95th minute.

“It was a tough one to take, a real difficult one to swallow. On the flip side, it doesn’t mean I’m going to rip up the playbook and say that group of players aren’t good enough.”

See also: Sidemen star and brothers could be at Crawley Town for 'foreseeable' future, Crawley boss hints

Crawley Town 4-1 Accrington Stanley: Player ratings - Who impressed and who struggled for Reds in FA Cup defeat?