Eberechi Eze 'on another level' for Crystal Palace but Crawley Town boss picks a different man of the match

Crawley welcomed Premier League outfit Crystal Palace and – 5,562 fans – to the Broadfield Stadium this evening (Wednesday, July 19) for a pre-season friendly.

The difference in quality showed in four key moments in the opening 25-minutes, with star man Eberechi Eze scoring a cracker into the top corner and providing three assists.

"It's always good to play against good players,” Lindsey told Sussex World, post-match.

"It's a learning curve for all players to play against top players like that. We spoke at half-time about the pockets he [Eze] was going into and about stopping balls going into him.

"I felt we didn't get up the pitch enough when they played the ball back. We didn't squeeze them and make it more compact.

"I feel that's when he became lively and found pockets. He was on another level tonight wasn't he. It's a great experience for the players for sure.”

Crawley latest signings were given home debuts, including Liam Kelly, Jay Williams; Danilo Orsi; Harry Forster and Joy Mukena.

“I was really pleased with the new boys, I thought they were all outstanding tonight,” Lindsey said.

"Liam Kelly in the midfield, you can argue he was one of the best players on the pitch. I thought he was outstanding.

"Jay Williams next to him was very good. Joy done well at the back.

"Dan Orsi was very good. I think he is going to be a very good player for us this season.

"Harry on the left hand side was very good as well. He was very bright, someone who can get fans on the edge of their seats.”

Lindsey – who confirmed the club will be looking to add further players to the squad – said his team ‘played really well’.

He was particularly encouraged by how comfortable Crawley were on the ball but admitted his team ‘do need to tidy certain moments up slightly’.

"On the turnover of possession, we need to become more compact,” he said. “It's something we are working on every day. We will get better and better at that.”

“Over the last two games, we haven't created loads but we played tough opposition tonight. We created one or two half chances.

"I really enjoyed the game. I thought it was good.”

Speaking to the club’s website, Lindsey added: “Thank you to Roy [Hodgson] for bringing his team down. He brought a really strong side down and that had an impact with the fans.

"Our fans were really good tonight as well. It was a good event. It would have been nice to give the crowd a goal. Fans will go away with happy with what they saw from the new signings”

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