'Nothing they can't achieve' - Crawley Town manager's message to players after Lincoln City win

Crawley Town secured their first win since August and their first under Rob Elliott as they came out 3-0 victors against Lincoln City.

After an uneventful first half, Crawley came out for the second half quickly and within two minutes Will Swan had opened the scoring for the hosts with an unstoppable strike into the top corner.

Lincoln pushed hard for a leveller but Ronan Darcy who was been fantastic this season for the Reds doubled their advantage with a superb solo goal.

It seemed the two goals would be enough for Crawley to pick up their first three points under Elliott and hand Lincoln their first away defeat of the season but substitute Rushian Hepburn-Murphy made sure of that with an calm and collected finish after a swift counter-attack.

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Speaking on the performance manager Rob Elliot said: “Football's a strange game sometimes, I genuinely couldn't be prouder of this group, and I think everyone in Crawley could be proud of every single player tonight, because sometimes in football, it doesn't always go the way you want it to with the ball, but you show that fight, you show that determination, which we talked about, and the rest will come.

“I'm so pleased with the players, because they deserve that. It's great for the coaching staff, but those players have been through a lot over the last four or five weeks, even before we come and to show that character after criticism fairly or unfairly, and win against a very good team and to defend the moments, the set pieces, the crosses, which, in the past,hasn't been our sort of strength just shows that these players, as games go on, they give absolutely everything for the club and the badge, there's a real performance to be proud off tonight.

“We just have to believe in ourselves a little bit more that we can do both sides and yeah, just an incredible night for the club. But again, don't get too high, don't get too low, stay consistent, and we'll work to Saturday.

"Now, players get to enjoy themselves for the night and a day, but need to be ready to go again and take all the good parts of what we've done and just try and get the consistency, because I think we've shown in very limited time I've been here, there's nothing this place can't achieve if they believe in themselves and work hard for each other. And I think that's what come through tonight.”

With more than 30 games to play Elliot also insisted that this will not be an easy ride and that fans should brace themselves for lots of highs and lows.

“I'm huge on the players and the people, and they deserve that. We set the team up in a certain way. We probably didn't play as clean as we would have liked but the players took responsibility, and they got through moments, and they never once allowed any moment to get on top of them.

“And like I said before, we will play better in possession at times. But the lads now know that they can always hurt teams, I think we just need to be consistent, stay calm and keep working, getting better because there will be ups and downs between now and the seasons are getting better every week. It's always reflected in the results.”