Crawley Town boss Yems: We are getting back to basics

The Reds, who host Mansfield Town this Saturday, are enjoying a three-game unbeaten run in the league following last weekend's 1-0 win at Barrow.

The morale-boosting victory in Cumbria was the Reds' first in six in all competitions.

Yems' side followed this up with a battling 1-1 draw at home to play-off chasing Newport County on Tuesday evening.

He said: "We've always got confidence. We try and play good football, but first half we have to do a job on teams.

"We worked hard on our shape. You're not going to go out and play toe-to-toe.

"Teams know we've got decent players and you've got to earn your right.

"You might win the game in the last minute or win it in the first minute. You've got to be prepared to do the horrible stuff before you play your football.

"I don't want to tempt fate, but we are getting back to basics. You start with a point, let's try and finish with one."

Tuesday evening saw the long-awaited return of Reece Grego-Cox from injury. The Irish winger came off the bench to make his first Crawley appearance in 620 days.

But the clash against the Exiles also saw the Reds lose Will Ferry. The Republic of Ireland under-21 international limped off on 72 minutes after impressing off the bench.

Yems said it was great to see Grego-Cox return - but revealed that Ferry had joined a sizeable injury lost.

He added: "It just seems to be that time of the year. Reece came back and it was great to see him back.

"But he's got a long way to go and he was flying around the training ground today. Let's just hope he keeps improving and gets back his fitness.

"That's the hard part. Trying to get the lads' fitness in.

"I think we've got 10 injuries. That's 10 players that could not train through injury.

"We've just got to go through it and see whatever happens coming out the other end."

Saturday's opponents Mansfield sit 18th in League Two. The Stags are a point and a place behind Crawley, although the Reds have a game in hand.

Clough's charges recorded five consecutive wins in all competitions before Tuesday night's 2-0 loss at Sutton United.

And Yems has predicted another difficult test for his team.

He said: "It's another tough game. Nigel's sides are always tough to play against. We've just got to make sure that we're okay.

"We've picked up another couple of injuries but we've got players ready to set up and come in and give them a good game."