'Under no illusion' - New Crawley Town boss on the Swindon Town challenge they face this weekend

Crawley Town’s new manager, Matthew Etherington is ‘under no illusion’ ahead of his first game at home to Swindon Town.
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Etherington was appointed as Crawley’s permanent successor to Kevin Betsy on Sunday and will manage his first game this weekend against Swindon Town.

“We’re under no illusion it’s going to be a very tough game,” said Etherington ahead of Saturday. “They want to pass the ball; they have rotation in their team, and they’ve got some very good players for League Two level. But we’ll have a game plan to stop and affect them. I’m really looking forward to seeing the players in a live match situation.”

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Swindon are currently 7th in the league and only three points off the play-offs under their manager for the season, Scott Lindsey. In their last away match in the league, the Robins thrashed Mansfield Town 5-2 whilst Welsh World Cup international Jonny Williams, scored a brace.

“I went to watch them (Crawley Town) play Gillingham last Tuesday,” said Lindsey coming up against a new manager in Etherington, who wasn’t at the club to face Gillingham. “But we’ve scrapped that because that might change now.

“You do as much background work on what their manager’s done at his previous club and find out if there’s a pattern in what formation’s they play. We’ve done a lot of digging, whether there’s useful information there or not remains to be seen.”

Crawley are 19th in League Two after a difficult start to the season. The Reds parted ways with their initial manager after just one win from 12 opening league games whilst bottom of the table. Under the interim management of Lewis Young, they rose four points clear of the relegation zone.

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“They’ve under achieved in my opinion,” added Lindsey. “They’ve got some players that can hurt you, so we’re really surprised they’re not higher up the table. But he’s a new manager so let’s hope he has a positive impact, but after Saturday.”

Etherington will manage his first two games for Crawley in front of a home crowd at their Broadfield Stadium. Last time out, the Reds drew 0-0 with Gillingham in a tiresome display.

“It's a real positive to have the first two games as home games,” added Etherington. “It’s brilliant. Hopefully the fans can see what we’re all about in the way we want to play and what the players are all about which I’m sure they will do.”

You can see the latest Crawley Town news here.