'Everyone to a man was absolutely fantastic' - Crawley Town boss' praise after Bristol Rovers draw

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Crawley Town Rob Elliot praised his whole team’s performance and work rate after a hard-fought 0-0 draw away to Bristol Rovers.

The hosts started the game better, as they hit the bar twice and made keeper Connal Trueman produce some spectacular saves throughout the first half.

But in the second half Crawley dominated the game more but could not put the ball in the back of the net despite their constant pressure.

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Even though it was not three points, Elliot was very proud of his team’s performance and how his players performed throughout and said that if they kept doing what they were doing, then they will do well.

Crawley Town boss Rob Elliot gives a thumbs up | Picture: Eva GilbertCrawley Town boss Rob Elliot gives a thumbs up | Picture: Eva Gilbert
Crawley Town boss Rob Elliot gives a thumbs up | Picture: Eva Gilbert

He said: “We’re at the stage where consistent performances will get us results that we want. Coming away here and getting a point is nothing to be sniffed, and the fact that we’re so disappointed we haven’t come away with all three points probably tells how well we played and the evolution of the squad since we came in.

“I thought we weathered the storm in the first 15 minutes, we knew it was going to be direct, set pieces, crosses, and you have to rely on Connal [Trueman] making three unbelievable saves. He’s been an absolute credit since he’s come in.

“Then after that, I thought we dominated. It was always going to be hard in the first hard at this level, because teas are robust and they’re trying to stop you, but I told the lads if you keep playing, you keep doing the right things, keep moving the ball in the way we playing terms of moving the ball from side to side, teams will not be able to do that for 90 minutes in the way they defend and the chances just kept coming.

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“Disappointed we could not get the goal to win it, but I though everyone to a man was absolutely fantastic.”

Memorial stadium is not an easy place to go to, but the Reds held their own throughout the game to get a crucial point in another impressive away performance.

Elliot said: “I think the hardest thing to understand in football is that, especially at this level, teams are very robust, quite direct, powerful, probably bigger and stronger than us.

“But we stood up to it, and yes, we relied on Connal making the saves and yes, we to defend for our lives but that is what you need to do.

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“If you want to stay up; if you want to proceed in any walk of life, especially in the football industry at this level then you have to do that as a minimum and that’s what the lads did.

Elliot was also quick to praise all of his players performances, with Panutche Camará being one of the players the gaffer was very impressed with.

Elliot said: “Panutche was just incredible. His running, his power, his pace, we’ve been building him up because he’s had a tough injury, and what he gave us there was incredible.

“Rushy [Hepburn-Murphy] was ill, he was on antibiotics, and he got through 60-70 minutes, Swanny [Will Swan] has been playing with a dead calf for three weeks. The lads are sacrificing themselves for the team, and it showed because when the subs came on the lads who had worked their nuts off, and got to a point where they were tired and were able to bring on the players that can hurt them.

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“The back three lads – Charlie Barker, Joy Mukena’s tackle at the end, they were tremendous.

“I could highlight every single one of the lads, I thought everyone was exceptional.”

Not just in the starting 11, but the subs were also very key to this game, according to Elliot, who needed them after a tireless game from some of his players along with a thin squad.

He said: “We are still at the bare bones. Harry [Forster] had an issue with his thigh, so he had to miss out today.

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“It shows what strength we’ve got in depth, only if we have that mentality and work rate though. That work rate was probably the highest we’ve done all year, and the lads have bought into that massively well.

“The quality from the bench – Ty [John-Jules], I think we are going to see how much his quality is going to help us. [Ronan]Darcy ran himself into the ground, could barely move at the end but that’s what we need, and that’s what we need to do.

Despite the domination at the end of the game and the fact they could have won it with the chances they created, Elliot will not leave Memorial Stadium a frustrated man.

“I think that performance showed me that we are going to be picking up more three points, and the fact that you come away here and there’s only one team that was going to win it at the end.

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“No frustration from me, I think the only frustration from my part will be if we don’t keep building on what we’ve done and keep picking up points and we’ll keep doing the hard yards.”

With this being an international break, this gave Crawley more attention with the game also being live on sky sports, along with the 250 fans who travelled to Bristol to watch their team play, and Elliot said the support from them was incredible and what his team needed.

He said: “It was incredible, I thought the reception from the fans at the end and the noise throughout the whole game was incredible and it’s just brilliant.

“It’s difficult, last year when you have such a successful year, you win most of your games and then you come into a very tough league where you’re not going to win every week, but I think we need to enjoy the occasions and enjoy it together.

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