'Swagger' - Crawley Town boss sees rising star as 'big part' of his plans moving forward

Rafiq Khaleel scored the winning goal in Crawley Town’s Football League Trophy clash with Charlton Athletic. The 20-year-old signed for the Reds in 2020, coming from non-League side Cheshunt. Just a year later West Ham United took him on a trial spell but in the end, he remained a Crawley Town player.

Scott Lindsey is clearly a fan of the young midfielder and spoke about his character, after his great performance on Tuesday night. “He’s like my little buddy, I’ve got a great relationship with him. I really like him; I like his energy and I like how he is around the place.

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“He’s a cheeky little bugger, but I like his character. I like that he’s got that about him, he’s got that little bit of swagger.”

He certainly showed that swagger on Tuesday night, Khaleel blasted a strike into the near post too fast for the Charlton ‘keeper to react. Scott Lindsey assured that Crawley fans will see more of Khaleel moving forward: “Raf’s a big of what we’re doing moving forward. When you play like that you’re always going to be in contention for a first team place.”