Scott Lindsey: Crawley Town 'did not stick to the game plan at all' against Crewe Alexandra

Late goals from Courtney Baker-Richardson and Elliott Nevitt saw Crewe come from behind to defeat Crawley – leaving the Reds still looking for their first win in October.

The hosts were hoping to end a run of four games without victory but have now failed to defeat The Railwaymen in their last six attempts – despite taking the lead twice in the game.

Lindsey said he had a game-plan to exploit Crewe’s weaknesses.

“We did not stick to the game plan at all,” the Crawley boss said. “I thought we were poor in the final third, but I also thought equally defensively. I would say our XG was low.

“We just didn’t make the keeper work enough. Their keeper has made more saves per 90 minutes than any other goalkeeper in the division.

"Their XG against is very high so we felt that we should be able to score lots of goals today and create chances and put the ball in the box.”

Lindsey questioned his team’s approach – especially when holding onto the lead, accusing his team of being complacent.

He added: “We were a little bit too nice today when you get in the lead with 2-1 you now need to go and step forward score the third and then it’s game over but we didn’t have that kind of aggression and guile.”

Although there were notable injuries to key players such as Ben Goldwin and Adam Campbell, Lindsey stressed the absentees should not be an excuse for the performance and result.

He said: “We’ve got enough players out there, we got Klaidi, Darcy and obviously Danilo scores goals before Nick who scored four or five goals this season. We’ve got players out there who are capable of putting it in the net.”

Briefly looking ahead to Tuesday’s game against Walsall, Lindsey wanted this fixture sooner rather than later: “I wish the game was tonight or tomorrow because I want to make sure we get it right.”