Crawley Town v Reading preview: Reds must be more 'robust and pragmatic' says Elliot
Rob Elliot says his side must be more ‘robust and pragmatic’ in defence as they head into big home games against Reading and Charlton Athletic.
The Reds face the Royals on Saturday in a 12.30pm kick off before the Addicks visit the Broadfield Stadium on Tuesday night as they look to close the gap between them and safety.
They are currently seven points off 20th and need to start stringing wins together, starting on Saturday.
And after poor performances and defeats against Cambridge United and Lincoln City this week, Elliot knows they need to improve.
“I think we're always trying to get results and trying to do it the right way,” he said. “What you've got to sort of understand is that the squad that's been built and the way the players are, there's a certain type of way we can play and there's a certain type of way that the players haven't been brought in for so we just need to maximise exactly what the squad is.
“We need to have a bit more nouse and maybe be a bit more pragmatic at times and manage the game a bit more but the basics always remain, you need to be able to defend your box and you need to be able to put the ball at risk and be able to create opportunities in the final third.
“From box-to-box this year we've been very good, obviously it's in both boxes where it matters and that's where we need to improve. We always feel like we're a goal threat, we always feel like we're going to score goals even though maybe there hasn't been this free flow in the last couple of games but we definitely need to make sure we're a bit more robust and pragmatic in terms of the way we're defending but ultimately yeah we still want to attack the game.
“We need to win games of football so we need to have that mindset to go and win games and score goals.”
Reds lost 4-1 against Reading at the Madejski Stadium in October - a scoreline that did not reflect the Reds’ performance. Elliot said: “It's going to be a good game. The reverse fixture was an excellent game in terms of it being open, both teams want to play, so there'll be loads of space and I imagine it'll be a really good football game and it'll be a good opportunity for us to get a good reaction from Tuesday and get back at home.
“The Cambridge result was disappointing for lots of different reasons. But I felt overall at home we've been good, we've been strong and it'll be good to have two very tough games, two good games at home and we can hopefully get some results.”
Reading have had a change of manager since Crawley last faced them with Noel Hunt coming in and Elliot has noticed some tiny changes. “Little tweaks to be honest with you,” he said. “They're a lot more aggressive in terms of the final third, in terms of the build, they commit more bodies forward, a lot more crosses in the box and they've got long throws and from set-pieces they're dangerous so we'll have to be aware of that but they still have the same structure and still have obviously a lot of the same players so they're going to be a threat.
“They're not where they are in the league without being a very good team but we have to make sure that we obviously make the lads as aware as possible of what they're going to bring but we have to concentrate on our strengths and their weaknesses and how we can hurt them and go and get three points to get us rolling again.”
You can watch the full preview with Rob Elliot in the video above.