‘Great problems to have’ – Crawley Town boss relishing selection headaches ahead of Accrington Stanley trip

Winger Dion Pereira returned for his first minutes of the season and scored the pivotal equaliser off the bench in the 1-1 draw with Northampton Town on Tuesday night (September 1).

Kellan Gordon and Malcolm Ebiowei – the duo who were sent off in the Reds’ 1-0 defeat to Crewe Alexandra on the opening day – are both back from suspension too.

And with other squad members chomping at the bit to make an impact, Kazim-Richards said that those big decisions are ‘great problems’ to have in his preview of Saturday’s contest at the Wham Stadium.

He said: “That's where you've got to differentiate between having problems that are not, great and problems that are good and healthy for the team.

“Dion came in and was able to impact the game. I think when I came in last season, we were something like fourth or third from impact off the bench, which is lovely to have as one of our weapons. May it continue – he came on and he was able to change the game.

“On a personal note, it's good for him. It's good to have a first appearance and be able to affect the game like that. He could have had another one, could have won it for us – [it] wasn't meant to be. But it's great to have him back and to have him as another weapon.”

All of the Reds’ points this season have come away from the Broadfield Stadium so far, which Kazim-Richards believes shows his ‘game side’ have shown ‘character’ on the road.

While the shorter turnaround from Tuesday to Saturday reduces the amount of preparation for this latest test, the Reds’ boss believes his side are up for the type of challenge Saturday’s opponents will pose.

He said: "The good thing is that we've gone through a bit of adversity already, in terms of teams that do similar to what Accrington do, so we know what we don't want to do. The prep isn't as much as it would’ve been before because we've been through it. It's just different personnel.

“We know how to attack it. We know how to compete and we know exactly where we don't want to be. Today's a day where we probably have more of a meeting, go over it (the Northampton game), watch it and then come out and go into principles of how we like to play. And then tomorrow, we go over it even more.

“And then we have (for England) that long travel. It's quite a far one. But it's enjoyable. You get to be together, and you also get to reinforce stuff while you're travelling, which is quite good.”

The Reds currently sit 17th in League Two after picking up four points from their first four games, while this Saturday’s opponents Accrington Stanley sit second-bottom after a winless start to their campaign.