Crawley Town suffered yet another defeat on Saturday – this one at the hands of Salford City. Here are four things we learned as the Reds were left to reflect on a seventh league game without a win.

It’s easy to play when you are two goals down

For the second consecutive week running Crawley have found themselves trailing by two goals as they approached the hour mark of the game before they even remotely looked to be in with a shot of getting something from the game.

Last week against Chesterfield they were able to come from two goals down to rescue a point; however this time round against Salford they were only able to grab a consolation.

It was a fruitless afternoon at Salford for Crawley Town | Picture by Kyle Hemsley

placeholder image — It was a fruitless afternoon at Salford for Crawley Town | Picture by Kyle Hemsley

Despite showing grit, determination and an improved mentality to battle when faced with adversity it’s so much easier to play forward when you know you have nothing to lose and the opposition’s guard may be down – and Colin Kazim-Richards, as well as the fans, will be deeply frustrated with that. Simply, they need to start performing before they are two down.

Scared to make mistakes

It seems at times that the Reds are fearful of making errors, which was reflected in their slow build-up and lack of intent. Kazim-Richards touched on that point in his post-match interview when he was asked about whether Crawley’s forward-thinking play was down to a sense of paranoia around making mistakes.

Slow build-up play has been a common trend for the Reds so far this season, which has meant they haven’t been able to break down the opposition and Saturday’s game saw the Reds fail to register even a shot on goal during the first half.

Dylan Morgan a standout player in a struggling side

Among all Crawley’s struggles so far this season, attacker Dylan Morgan has been a bright spark and he got his name on the scoresheet again at Salford City – his third goal of the season since joining from Torquay United in the summer.

He has consistently been a goalscoring threat and influential in Crawley’s chance creation, and ultimately been fairly clinical when he has had the opportunities; however he is going to need people around him to perform more regularly if the Reds are going to start climbing up the table.

This week at home is massive

Crawley’s league fixtures against Shrewsbury Town and Tranmere Rovers – on Tuesday and Saturday – are crucial to Kazim-Richards’ future at the club and the team’s season as by the end of the week, the Reds could be even further than their current five points adrift - or they could be right back in the pack if they can pick up two wins.