Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot has insisted that the Red Devils’ point away at Bristol Rovers on Saturday is “nothing to be sniffed at” after the Sussex outfit dominated the second half of the goalless draw.
Rovers started the match the much better of the two sides with Isaac Hutchinson striking the underside of the crossbar and Luke McCormick having two headed opportunities, the second of which producing a stunning save from on-loan goalkeeper Connal Trueman. Although Crawley then started to see more of the ball, the Gas forced another two excellent stops via Shaq Forde and Hutchinson again with the scoreline level at half-time.
However, Elliot’s side controlled the second half and had enough chances to score a decisive goal with two good saves from Josh Griffiths and some impressive blocks from Connor Taylor and James Wilson keeping the hosts’ clean sheet in tact.
Reflecting on the match, the former Newcastle United goalkeeper, who took over at Crawley in early October, said to club media: “We’re at the stage where the consistent performances will get us the results that we want. Coming here and getting a point is nothing to be sniffed at by the way and the fact that we’re disappointed that we haven’t come away with all three points probably tells how well we’ve played and the evolution of the squad since we’ve come in.
“I was really pleased. I thought we weathered the storm in the first 15 minutes. Listen, we knew it was going to be direct. We knew it was going to be set pieces, crosses and you have to rely on Connall making three unbelievable saves. He’s been an absolute credit since he’s come in and then after that I thought we dominated.
“It’s always going to be hard, especially at this level. These teams are robust and are trying to stop you but I told the lads if you keep playing, if you keep doing the right things, keep moving the ball especially in the way we play moving the ball from side to side, teams won’t be able to do that for 90 minutes in the way they defend and the chances just kept coming and coming.
“Yeah, it’s disappointing that we couldn’t get the goal to win it because it would have topped off what was an excellent performance but what I’m pleased with are sort of the ingredients that we’re trying to get to and the concepts were there and we could probably spend 60 minutes watching that game and really highlight the things that we’re trying to do.”
On the back of their League Two play-off success last term, having finished seventh in the fourth tier, while also losing a number of their star players from that campaign, Crawley were the early bookies’ favourite for relegation and, although they still sit in the drop zone after 16 games played, they’ve picked up some impressive results of late.
A 3-0 home win over Lincoln City followed by a 2-2 draw, also at home, with Huddersfield Town suggested that the Red Devils were heading in an upward trajectory going into Saturday and, in the end, they could have come away with a first away win in League One since August.
“I thought everyone, to a man, was absolutely fantastic,” Elliot declared. “We’re not the finished article, we don’t get too high or too low but we’re setting standards every week, another one game unbeaten in the league and that’s what we’re going to need. Mentality and then the football on top. You can see from the talented boys there that we’re going to be absolutely fine and I’m genuinely looking forward to the challenge and I hope the players are because they’re a fantastic bunch.”
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