Maidenhead trip will be tricky - but gives Crawley Town chance to bounce back

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Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot says Saturday’s tricky FA Cup first round tie at Maidenhead is a chance to bounce back immediately from their 3-0 loss to Northampton Town.

The Reds were hoping for two wins in a row for the first time since August to push them up the table at Sixfield last Saturday but the hosts had other ideas and were two up through Tariqe Fosu and a Jay Williams own goal.

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The Cobblers scored again in the second half from another set piece to put the game out of reach for Crawley, to finish another disappointing game for the travelling away fans.

Now Elliot and his team switch their attentions to the Cup – and to Saturday’s visit to National League side Maidenhead, where he knows they will have to play well to avoid being on thw wrong end of an upset.

Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot has said that his players may have been nervous before his team’s 3-0 loss to Northampton Town | Picture: Eva GilbertCrawley Town manager Rob Elliot has said that his players may have been nervous before his team’s 3-0 loss to Northampton Town | Picture: Eva Gilbert
Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot has said that his players may have been nervous before his team’s 3-0 loss to Northampton Town | Picture: Eva Gilbert

The Reds are one of three Sussex sides in round one – non-league duo Horsham and Worthing are also involved, with the Hornets away to Chesterfield and Worthing hosting Morecambe.

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Elliot said of Crawley’s tie: “I think any game is a good opportunity to put right, and I think the FA Cup is a special competition, and the big thing for me is the FA cup is about winning, and winning on the day, so that’s what I want to see from the group.

"I want to see that mentality, and I want to see it in training, who’s coming out to train with intent, train with purpose, whose coming out to train to show as a group we are going to collectively improve and get better and move on week on week.”

Speaking about their League One campaign, Elliot added: “We know it is going to be tough at this level, we stepped up, lost a lot of players and the squad is still forming but that doesn’t change anything. This is our group; our team and we need to show that fight and that determination to get better; not just on a Saturday but every single day.

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“Like I said to the players that the players show me that in training, the likes of Jay [Williams], Charlie [Barker], Harry [Forster], the ones that put themselves out there all the time, Darcy as well.

“I want characters who will give it everything for the club no matter what the circumstances are and that’s what will get us where we need to be.

Reflecting on the Northampton loss, Elliot said: “When you concede two poor goals from set pieces you put yourself on the back foot, especially after Tuesday, and that then changed the whole landscape of the game which allowed them to counterattack which they did well, and when we did get control, we weren’t able to take them [chances].

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“I think the thing we are finding is that goals at this level changes games and we need to tighten up in terms of the organisation.

“Whatever it needs to be, we need to tighten up as we did it magnificently on Tuesday but then we haven’t followed it up in a game where I felt if we could carry on the momentum, it would have been a good opportunity for us.

“We still carried a threat, but not enough in the final third to trouble the goalie."

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It was a contrast to last Tuesday night, when Crawley beat Lincoln City 3-0 in a fantastic performance by Elliot’s men, but they could not follow up with a similar performance.

On the differences from Tuesday, Elliot said: “I don’t know if there were a bit of apprehension, a bit of nerves which I wouldn’t understand why because I’ve said to the lads all I want them to do is go and express themselves and give everything, and if we make sure we have that right mentality and intent then the rest is football to a certain degree.

“It’s just the basic standards what we want to maintain from Tuesday and obviously I do think that the reflection is that goals do change the momentum of the game. We had a warning from the first one and the second from the set piece we did the same thing again and the lad finishes it, and it puts you on the back foot.

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“It’s disappointing because we defended them so well the previous week [set pieces] so we will have to assess that on getting better at that.

“We also need to understand as a group our mentality going forward and how we are going to find ways to perform and win.”

There are obviously going to be lows after a painful loss but Elliot is determined to fix those negatives and build on the positives going on into the season.

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He said: “You have to assess the good parts and what we did well, and we have to assess what we need to get better at. There’s now in between really, we just have to get better at them, and you have to get better by training, standards, physically and mentally being ready.

“I thought that the lads will give you absolutely everything, they’re good honest lads, and it shows that at this level one win doesn’t change anything. We still need to be able to build on that and we need to understand why we build on that.

“The things we did well on Tuesday we did not replicate tonight, and credit to Northampton. They started the game well and they caused a lot of problems but the frustrating thing for me is I felt the game was there for us, we just wasn’t able to build on it because we were already 2-0 down and chasing the game, and that’s been a consistent feature of the season so it’s something we need to get better at.”

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Elliot also praised the away support at Northampton, with there being 320 reds fans making the journey to watch their beloved side play. Elliot said: “The support has been amazing, it’s been tough coming in, but the support has been fantastic and obviously Tuesday nights are the moments you want. The away supporters; I think they know it is an honest team that will give everything, and I think that over time the performances and results will come.

"All I can say is thank you for their support and their support to the lads, and we’ve all got to stick together in these moments and hopefully we will have more days and nights like Tuesday than we will today.”

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