Scott Lindsey praises ‘ugly win’ away at AFC Wimbledon as Crawley Town haul themselves out of the drop zone

Ashley Nadesan’s early strike was enough to secure all three points at Plough Lane, as Crawley moved out of the relegation zone at Hartlepool’s expense.

Reds manager Lindsey said: “I thought the lads dug in well today. It was a real difficult game and a battling performance.

“We scored early, which always helps, against a team that we’ve struggled to play in the past. It was important we got that first goal. I spoke about that before the game.

“We wanted to be physical, on the front foot, fast attacking, getting plenty of balls in the box and getting shots away, and I thought we did that.

“I think it was a game where we won ugly. I don’t think we’ve played particularly well.

“It wasn’t easy on the eye, but at this stage of the season a win’s a win, and we showed fighting spirit today so I’m proud of every one of them.”

It was a physical affair, as it usually is between these two sides, and Lindsey was impressed with how his players navigated that challenge.

He added: “We won a lot of headers, a lot of second headers. For lack of anything else we worked extremely hard. The players were absolutely dead on their feet towards the end. But I’m really proud of them all.

“The biggest thing for us today is that we had this game down as one where we could get that first away win. The clean sheet was really important for us.

“It’s all about the fans. They pay to watch us home and away and we want to give them something to go home with, and we’ve certainly done that today.

“If we do stay up I won’t be celebrating much. We shouldn’t celebrate not getting relegated. When we actually win something we will celebrate.”

Crawley are at home again on Tuesday [March 21] when they welcome Doncaster Rovers to the Broadfield Stadium.