'We just need to attack the game' - Crawley Town looking for first win under Rob Elliot as they face Shrewsbury Town

The Reds are looking to bounce back from a thrilling match in the week against Wimbledon in the EFL Trophy, as Elliot saw his team concede a 96th minute goal after they came back from a three-goal deficit.

Crawley will be hoping to get back to winning ways this Saturday, with a win pushing them out the relegation zone away from Shrewsbury who lie two points and one place below them.

When looking towards the game, Elliot said: “Looking forward to it, two games in quick succession finishing off my first 10 days. It’s good to be at home, it will be good to carry on what we have been working on, making sure we bring that attacking football, which we did really well on Tuesday.

“The context in what we are asking the lads is slightly different, they are starting to grasp and hopefully with that we’ll see a lot more freedom in the final third in terms of putting the ball in the box and giving more risk.

“It’s not all going to be click and be perfect on Saturday but hopefully it is a step forward. We just need to attack the game, try to enjoy it and entertain and back ourselves because we have got a lot of young players and a lot of talented players we need to back.

When asked whether he had thought about changing the line up, Elliot said: “I won’t pick the team until after Friday as you don’t know what will happen, what’s been good is the depth and quality of the squad is.

“The lads who came on Saturday helped us and those lads who definitely came in on Tuesday helped us. It’s a squad game, and ultimately with the injuries we have had so far, we are going to need everyone available.”

Shrewsbury have not had the best start to the season, only having grabbed five points in 10 games and not winning a game since August, but Elliot still sees them as a tough opponent.

He said: “Watched a bit of them on Tuesday, there a good team I think there very solid, got the options of a back five or back four. They like to back you up in the press and try to make it difficult for you, so we will have to be aware of that, and they are very hard to break down. They are very much a counter attacking team.

“For all our strengths being in possession and wanting to get players higher up the pitch, they’re very good in transition when attacking, so in that sense we could see why a lot of our games are open, so we need to make sure that we lock up right and that we make good decisions in possession to push them back and limit the opportunities they get to attack.”

And Elliot is not just looking for three points out of the game, as he looks for much more than that.

He said: “A few things we’ve spoken about in a meeting this morning, as long as I can see the lads taking the information and trying to implement the context and the process, we like to put in then that will be fine by me, and I genuinely believe if we do that we will get the rewards in terms of the win.

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“What I don’t want us to do is chase three points from the start of the game and lose our shape and structure and that will play into the opposition’s hand, so you’ve got to understand we are a possession-based team, and that we want to be able to put the ball at risk into the final third in terms of crosses and runs and people using their abilities taking people on, which is probably what we saw on Tuesday a lot more, and we also need to be a bit more switched on with our defensive actions and especially when we can go forward in such numbers our responsibility is on the back lads, and we need to make sure as a group we are able to negate oppositions as best as possible.”

This will be Elliot’s first home league game in front of the Reds fans, something that he is looking forward to as he has praised the fans.

He said: “From what I’ve seen the fans have been absolutely brilliant this year and I think they understand the task that’s in front of us, and I just hope they look forward to it and try to enjoy it the best they can.

“For me personally and for the other coaching staff it has been a lovely welcome. The response after the Wycombe game and Tuesday was really positive.”

Even though it is only October, both teams have been on a poor run, and now with both of them in the relegation zone, three points for either team could be huge.

Elliot said: “Every single game should have the same expectation to win, when you play the top of the table away or the bottom of the league at home there’s that mindset that you think we have to win or it’s a free hit.

“For me, the development of this group and what we implement is that no matter what situation we’re in is that our mindset’s the same. We want to impose ourselves on the game and stay in control of all of the moments.

“That’s what I am looking forward to on Saturday: to see the players attack the game in every possible way, I want to see them relish the challenge of this year of being written off, being the underdogs, and relish it with no fear.”

On the squad, Elliot said: “(Charlie Barker) He got an elbow to the eyeball, so you need to be really careful with that, he’s gone to the hospital got the all clear which is good.

“Joy (Mukena) has got a long going ankle issue he’s had so we are just monitoring that to see how he is, and then otherwise we are pretty much where we were.”

Elliot also describes how tough it is to prepare for games, linking it to Crawley’s possession-based football.

He said: “You have to watch the opposition because of key individuals, consistent patterns of play – if we can give that information to the lads then we can prep them on the training pitch and at least they will have an understanding of what they are up against.

“Because we are such a possession-based team, teams may not do what they do normally against us. They can change it on a Saturday and all of that work’s gone to waste. We want to try and cover as many bases as possible, so the lads have as much information as they need.”

With an international break this weekend, there are only two league one games going ahead, which gives Crawley a big chance to get out of the relegation zone with a win at Broadfield Stadium.