Crawley Town travel to Stevenage on Saturday for their latest vital League One fixtures. Reds need to win to bolster their chances of survival. Here is Scott Lindsey's thoughts ahead of the game
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00:00Scott, thank you for joining us after a tough defeat on Tuesday, we're back on the road
00:06this weekend as we face Stevenage, can I get your thoughts out of that one?
00:09Yeah, I think given how we played the other night and the fact that we didn't get anything
00:14from the game, we're desperate to get back out there and play again. We want to put that
00:18right obviously, so again we're looking forward to it very much so. Yeah, so that's pretty
00:24much it really, I can't give you much more than that, that we're really looking forward
00:27to the game.
00:28Yeah, we spoke to Charlie after the Prepa match and it was almost hard to watch because
00:33he looked so disappointed, as you actually would having played that well, and his message
00:36was I'm so upset that the lads have played that well and not got anything out of the
00:40game. What's the reaction been like as you come back into the building on Thursday, is
00:44it sort of more of the same or is it sort of, as you say, is that turning into a positive
00:47energy of wanting to attack the next game?
00:50Positivity, that's what we can be because we can't, I don't want there to be any negative
00:55faces or body language or anything like that because we played so well and deserve so much
01:02more than we got and football unfortunately has a habit of doing that every now and then.
01:08We have to take it and move on, I've kind of forgot about it now, we have to. We debriefed
01:13it this morning and kind of showed lots of positive clips to the players to reinforce
01:17what we're doing and we showed one or two little bits where we can be better as well.
01:22I think it's always important to always have that learning aspect about what a debrief
01:27looks like and the players have been brilliant. I can't ask them for any more than they're
01:34doing really. They're working so hard, you look at the distance covered the other night,
01:39it's just ridiculous and they didn't deserve to lose that game. So yeah, it's all positive,
01:45the mood in the camp's good, we're in a good place. Whilst I know we're in a precarious
01:52position but I think there's a lot of belief in the dressing room now.
01:55I was going to ask you about the run stats actually because they were absolutely incredible
01:59on Tuesday night which is exactly what we want to see and I suppose it, especially to
02:03the players, then hurts even more when you don't come out and you've put that much effort
02:06in and you come out empty-handed. On the flip side of that, has that caused any issues with
02:12injuries or fitness or are the lads fit enough to be consistently doing that Tuesday, Saturday?
02:16No, they're so robust and fit really. I think we ran over 111 kilometres collectively as
02:23a group which is incredible. We probably need to get around 109 in order for us to win or
02:31draw a game. We got 211 and lost but like I say, it wasn't a reflection of that. We
02:37deserved far much more than we got. But no, the players have recovered really well. Obviously
02:44we've had a training session today, more for the top-up group than the group that played.
02:50So the group that played have had more of an off day today. Tomorrow we'll put another
02:56session into them on the grass where I'll coach the team and put the detail into them
03:01about how I see the team looking against Stevenage. And then we travel on the day because it's
03:08not miles away. Well, it is miles away but it's not too far. So yeah, we're really looking
03:14forward to it.
03:15I suppose we don't have to overcome an issue of us not scoring enough goals. Since you've
03:19come in, in the three games you've scored eight goals. So it must be nice not knowing
03:23that you don't have that problem where you're teaching the players how to put the ball in
03:26the back of the net again because it's come so naturally to them so far.
03:28Yeah, I think so. I think you look at the lads at the top end of the pitch, I think
03:32they're all capable of scoring goals. And then you saw last Saturday where we had two
03:39lads who'd come off the bench and scored as well in Gav and Pan. So yeah, there's plenty
03:45of goals in the team. We've just got to make sure that we keep things tight at the back
03:49and obviously we conceded four goals on Tuesday night. I think a lot of them goals came from
03:58probably too much transition. So when we press high up the pitch, ball turns over,
04:03ball goes south, we've got to all do a little bit more to get back into a defensive shape.
04:10I didn't think we did that well enough but spoke about that today in the meeting and
04:17the players completely understand. I've been really clear with it so hopefully we'll see
04:21an improvement regarding that.
04:23Stevenage not a million miles away, on the day for the players, on the day for the fans
04:29as well. A nice easy one to get to, you can get there directly from Crawley on the train.
04:32So firstly, how good would it be to see a really large following there? The ticket sales
04:36have been very good already. And secondly, I suppose Stevenage, with it being one of
04:40the smaller grounds we play at, it's a chance for the Crawley fans to make that statement
04:43their own on a day like that, isn't it?
04:44Yeah, well they always do anyway. The fans always make most noise when we go away. I
04:51think pretty much even the start of this season when I was the manager and of course since
04:56I've been in, they made the noise at Rotherham for me. I thought they were loud. I remember
05:03the Cambridge game, they were loud. Wrexham, they were loud. So every time we've gone away
05:08they've always been really loud. To say you could hear them at Wrexham is a credit really
05:13because obviously with the packed stadium and that. So yeah, I expect my fans to be
05:20like that everywhere we go. I think they're brilliant and yeah, we're hopeful that we
05:25can give them something to cheer about after the game.
05:28Talking about scoring goals, Sam mentioned there that you scored a few. Knowing you and
05:34how you set up your teams, you just want to score as many goals as possible. I did a few
05:37predictions earlier about results etc. and goal difference could be absolutely key or
05:42cut into that final day. Is that something you bring into your team talks about the goal
05:46difference in the future or is that adding too much pressure?
05:49No, I actually mentioned it. I actually mentioned the fact that try and score a lot of goals
05:54based on the fact that we might need that extra point as it is in terms of goal difference
06:00at the end of the season. That might be the difference and when you look at our goal difference
06:05and Bristol Rovers' goal difference, we're not miles off it. I know our goal difference
06:09is really poor because of the season that we've had. But we're not miles away from Bristol
06:17Rovers certainly. So the importance is, I think we're only four goals. I might be wrong.
06:23It is four goals.
06:24Okay, so four goals. So it's not, you think you win 2-0, 2-0. All of a sudden you're kind
06:30of level with them. Do you know what I mean? So that's kind of the idea obviously if they
06:33don't score or don't win should I say. So yeah, we're mindful of that. I certainly am.
06:40I mentioned it to the players to try and put the ball in the net as many times as we can
06:45sort of thing. And I think that's probably why that game was so aggressive Tuesday night
06:50and so open because you had two teams that are capable of scoring goals. But we have
06:56to play that way. We have to play at full tilt at the moment. We can't be where we're
07:01slow with the ball and more control. We have to play full tilt in order for us to get what
07:06we need to get. And it might cost us like it did the other night. It cost us the other
07:10night where we're throwing bodies forward. We're really aggressive on the press. We're
07:15really aggressive the way we're playing. And then it kind of leaves us a little bit skinny
07:19on transitions, which is why the players need to run back really quickly into that thickened
07:24shape to stop the opposition from hurting us. Which is, listen, it is what it is. We've
07:29got, you know, massive games coming up now and we've got to just put every single ounce
07:35of effort into that, whether that's scoring goals or running back and doing a defensive
07:41job as well. But yeah, we've certainly got goals in the team. We just need to continue
07:48that really, you know. I think that's important.
07:51Yeah. And how is the squad looking? Do you expect Dion to be involved on Saturday?
07:55Yeah, Dion's trained today. We're going to assess again tomorrow and then make a decision
08:03based on what I see tomorrow. So I'm not 100% decided yet.
08:09Yeah. And does it give you a selection headache with the club captain coming back in with
08:13the defenders? I know Tuesday night they let him forward, but two clean sheets before that.
08:17Is it a tough decision to make?
08:19No, it's never a tough decision when Dion Conroy's involved because he's a top, top
08:22player. So no, I think if he's available then he'll probably play. So yeah.
08:30Yeah. And I'm interested in what you say to a player like Adi Adiemo after Tuesday night.
08:35Obviously he's going to be disappointed. Is it something you just move on from straight
08:40away or how do you deal with that? Because he's obviously going to be disappointed.
08:43I haven't even mentioned it to him.
08:45No.
08:45Not even mentioned it to him.
08:46Sorry, not mentioning it now.
08:47No, but I think that's kind of like management in itself. You know, the fact that I've not
08:52made a big thing of it, I've not mentioned it. He knows. He's like, you know, he's a
08:58professional footballer who's desperate to do well for the lads in the team. He doesn't,
09:05what's he going to, you know, what's he going to get from me saying you shouldn't have done
09:08that? He knows that, you know, so there's no point. And listen, he's desperate to get
09:15back and defend. Do you know what I mean? So the fact that he's so willing to do well
09:21for the team and make a tackle, you know, is credit to him. He just got it wrong.
09:28You know, and that happens and I'm not going to eat him with a stick with that.
09:33You know, I want the players to feel the freedom and feel that they're cared for and feel that,
09:38you know, they can and they will make mistakes and it's acceptable.
09:44As long as you don't make too many of them.
09:47Yeah, absolutely. And looking ahead, whatever happens between now and the end of the season,
09:52I think there's, because of what's happened in the last three games, there's optimism
09:55going forward, whatever happens. Have you been given any indication yet or assurances
10:01from the owners that you will have a similar squad to work with next season?
10:05I think I've been the victim of my own success in these first two games. Everyone's now expecting
10:10us to stay up, so pressure's on a little bit. No, it's a good question. I think from an
10:18ownership point of view to myself, that we're kind of having the discussions that let's
10:25just get the job done or try and get the job done and see what happens and then from
10:30there we then need to assess the squad accordingly. I think the minute I take my eye off trying
10:37to do the job and start talking about the squad for next season and what it's going
10:41to look like in this division, what it's going to look like in that division, then maybe
10:46I take my eye off the ball too much and maybe I don't get the job done. So I think it's
10:50important that I focus on that. We've already had discussions about the squad already,
10:57not in depth but just to kind of understand who is in and out of contract, so I understand.
11:04So I need to assess training sessions and everything because there's some players that
11:09probably I need to look at in training because they might not get as many minutes out on the
11:13pitch, that's normal. So I am doing that and yeah, I think you're constantly assessing
11:21anyway the squad, whether you've been in a club for 10 minutes or 10 years, I think you're
11:26constantly doing that anyway. But my sole focus at the moment is to try and keep in
11:31this division and until we know whether we have or we haven't done that, that's when
11:37we'll get to work a little bit more.
11:39Brilliant, good luck Saturday.