'We deserved a bit more' - Crawley Town midfielder reflects on Walsall draw after first start for club

The hosts fell behind when Isaac Hutchinson slotted his penalty away after Jay Williams fouled Jack Earing in the first half, but Liam Kelly equalised with 25 minutes left of the game, as he hammered the ball into the roof of the net.

Crawley had chances to win it, with Harry Forster’s last-minute shot unfortunate to just go past the wrong side of the post. Last night was Kelly’s first start for Crawley after he signed a short-term deal with the Reds, which followed on from his substitute appearance in the 1-0 loss away to Crewe.

On these games, he said: “They’ve been good, just trying to get use to English football. I thought we deserved a bit more today. We’re playing well, I think going forward we’ll be all right.”

His substitute performance against Crewe was enough to get him into the team, as he played 70 minutes of football before he was subbed off for Adam Campbell as Crawley pushed on for a winner.

On his performance, he said: “I thought I played all right; I ran out of steam a bit towards the end as it's been a while since I’ve played. Created a few things, probably should have been more decisive.”

Crawley are now winless in their last five games, with this draw having ended their losing streak, but Kelly still sees the positive in the performance of his team last night, even after they went a goal behind.

Read Lucas Michael's match report here.

Read Tom Cunningham’s player ratings here.

Read Scott Lindsey’s reaction here.

He said: “I thought the boys showed a lot of courage when not letting up when we were down a goal, we had a few more chances but that’s the game of football. For the most part, I thought we were on top of them.

“The lads showed a lot of resilience in coming back and keeping the energy going which is tough especially with the Saturday Tuesday turnaround. Overall positive performance, probably could have got more.”

Kelly also commented on the atmosphere, with it being different to what it is like in America.

He said: “The atmosphere is good. There’s completely different atmosphere over in the US, so that adds a bit of pressure. The fans help, you can go for 90 minutes, and they will give you a little boost towards the end when you're tightening up at 1-1.”

Crawley finish the night in 15th, seven points behind Notts county in the last remaining play-off spot and with an extra game to play.

When asked if Crawley could still get into the play-offs, Kelly said: “Absolutely, we did ok to get a point tonight, I think we have a great chance to still be in the play-off race, and that’s all the motivation we need.”

Crawley’s next fixture is home to Forest Green Rovers, with Crawley Town manager Scott Lindsey labelling it as the ‘toughest game of the season’ after the relegation-threatened side grabbed a huge win last night against high-flying Barrow.

Looking towards the game, Kelly said: “I don’t know too much about Forest Green Rovers, but I think every game in this league is competitive, and you can’t take your foot off the pedal as again you're hoping to be in the play-off race.

“Every game from here on out is massive.”