It's a shame I'm not in America to celebrate Thanksgiving, but I'm happy to be here to help Crawley Town progress in the FA Cup

Yes, today is the biggest holiday date in America – except July 4, of course – where families across the US get together and enjoy turkey with all the trimmings – Kelly even says, ‘Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas over there’.

This will be the first time the 27-year-old, who was actually born in Prague, Czechia, he has not been in his home country to celebrate Thanksgiving. Although he will celebrate it, his focus is on helping Crawley Town get their name in the draw for the third round of the FA Cup but getting a result against Lincoln City at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday.

"It's all right. I mean, I surely won't be eating tons of food and watching American football or doing anything like that, but I'll have a little bit of turkey for dinner. It's bigger than Christmas over there, to be honest, so it's a shame not to be over there, but I'm very happy to be here.”

Kelly joined Reds under Scott Lindsey last January and played his first ever FA Cup game against Maidenhead United in November. He says the competition doesn’t mean a lot to US football fans, but he knows what it means to people in England. "I wouldn't say it means as much to Americans as it does over here,” said Kelly. “No American is as passionate about a specific team as fans over here, so you'd watch it and you'd see some minnows playing some big teams and that would be interesting, but no, you don't get the passion for the FA Cup that you get over here.

"The Prem is probably way more important.” But having played at the Amex in the Carabao Cup eralier in the season, Kelly says the squad has a big taste for a big game.

"Playing at the Amex was an amazing feeling, so I think everybody loves those opportunities to play against a big club or at least a club that's higher up. We know we have a tough one against Lincoln City, but after that, if we're able to win, fans, players, everyone will be looking forward to it.”

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It’s been quite a ride for Kelly since he joined on an initial short-term deal from Colorado Rapids and immediately impressed with his tricky footwork and skill. Kelly made 18 appearances in the regular season and went on to feature in all three Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Matches, which ended in promotion at Wembley.

He then signed a two-year deal in the summer. And now he is looking forward to playing at big stadiums in League One “I wouldn't have expected to be where we are now, me or the team,” he said. “We’ll be Playing at St Andrews later in the year, it's been great.

"I've watched some games when I was back home and you see some of these teams in the Prem and you go to a Reading or a Wigan. I've watched plenty of those games before, 10 years ago. That's one of the great thing of playing in English football, is that you play all over the place and against teams that historically have been great and some that are places you've never even heard of.

"So that's been one of the biggest things that I've enjoyed since I've been over here.”