The ins and outs during January for Crawley Town
It may have been a quiet transfer Deadline Day, but Reds were still one of the most active clubs during January.
Interim Manager Dean Saunders signed seven players, with two leaving the Checkatrade.com Stadium on loan deals.
Dean’s first recruit after taking over on December 27 was experienced defender Darren Ward, who is with us until the end of the season from Swindon Town, although he won’t be able to play when the two clubs meet at the County Ground later this month.
Midfielder Anthony Wordsworth joined the club from Championship side Ipswich Town, also until the end of the season, and scored his first goal on Saturday in the 2-1 victory against Preston.
Dean strengthened his goalkeeping options with two additions to the squad during January. Lewis Price, who played four games earlier in the season on loan from Crystal Palace, re-joined Reds until the end of the campaign and Scott Dutton arrived from Wolves until February 21 as cover while Brian Jensen recovers from a thumb injury.
Striker Dean Morgan initially joined the club on loan from Conference side Woking, but that move – until the end of the season – was made permanent last week. This allowed Dean to bring in another loan player, striker Lee Fowler from Nuneaton, and the Welshman made a spectacular debut with a late winning goal against Preston on Saturday in our 2-1 win.
The other arrival is midfielder Blair Anderson from non-league Basford who joined the Reds on non-contract terms.
Going out of the club, both on loan, are Charles Banya, who joined Woking as part of the agreement which brought Morgan to Crawley until the end of the season, and young defender Ryan Richefond, who has linked up with Ryman League premier division Leatherhead for a month.
Dean said: “I definitely feel we have strengthened the squad during January and we could see on Saturday that the players we have brought in are having a positive influence all over the pitch. There's a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead of us but we will go into the Yeovil game on Saturday with a bit more confidence."
Dean has the option of adding to the squad when the emergency loan window opens next Tuesday.
