The Reds will be looking to bounce back from defeat in the FA Cup on Tuesday night when they host Crewe Alexandra on Saturday at the Broadfield Stadium.
Crewe are directly one place below the Reds in the Sky Bet League Two table and beat Tranmere Rovers 3-2 last weekend in a thrilling match at Gresty Road. That win followed a run of four defeats in a row.
The Reds haven’t won in six games in all competitions, but our defeat to MK Dons two weeks ago was our first at home in the league since August.
The fixture sees the activation of the EFL’s Rainbow Laces campaign, in partnership with Stonewall, as the club unites with the LGBTQ+ community. Both team captains will wear rainbow armbands and there will be rainbow corner flags and a rainbow substitution board. More info here.
HEAD TO HEAD
Saturday’s meeting with Crewe Alexandra will be the 13th between the two sides in the Football League in League One and Two. Crewe have won six, with just two wins for Crawley and four draws.
Last season, Crewe recorded the double over us with a 2-1 win at the Broadfield and a 3-0 win in Cheshire. In our home match, it was 1-1 after just nine minutes when Jimmy Smith equalised after Perry Ng’s opener, but Harry Pickering scored after the break to win it for the away side. A double from Chris Dagnall and a Callum Ainley strike saw Crewe win at Gresty Road in a game which saw both Jimmy Smith and Jordan Roberts sent off for the Reds.
The first league meeting took place in December 2011 when the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in Crewe. Matt Tubbs scored the Crawley goal, equalising after Will Fletcher’s opener. Shaun Miller was given a red card for the hosts. The return leg produced the same scoreline in front of a bumper crowd at the Broadfield as the East Stand opened for the first time. Almost 5000 were packed in to see Gary Alexander’s 88th minute penalty cancel out Byron Moore’s first half goal.
The next two fixtures saw the same scoreline – 2-0 – with both games being decided by a brace. Laurie Dalle-Valle’s double at Gresty Road saw Crewe take the points in the first match, while Jamie Proctor’s two goals were enough for the Reds in the corresponding fixture.
In 2013-14, Crewe did the double of us for the first time as Chuks Aneke’s goal was enough for the hosts to win 1-0 at home, while goals from Uche Ikpeazu and Brad Inman saw them win 2-1 in Crawley, despite Jamie Proctor’s strike.
Our frustrating run of results against the Alex continued into the next season, as we drew twice – 1-1 at home with Izale McLeod scoring our goal, and 0-0 in Cheshire.
It was in December 2016 that we picked up our first win at Crewe, as James Collins scored twice in a 2-0 win at Gresty Road. However, three months later, Crewe recorded their biggest win against us to date as James Jones, Jordan Bowery and Chris Dagnall all scored in a 3-0 win.
STAR MAN
Jordan Bowery is a striker who has played Premier League football for Aston Villa between 2012 and 2014 having impressed at Chesterfield, the club for whom he made his professional debut. Bowery joined Crewe in 2017 following Leyton Orient’s relegation to the National League and has since played almost 100 times and scored 19 goals, including six this season. He has also had spells at Doncaster Rovers, Rotherham United, Bradford City and Oxford United.
TICKETS
Tickets for this fixture are on sale from the ticket office. We are currently unable to process online bookings, so please call 01293 410005 to purchase or visit the ticket office during opening hours (9am-4.30pm Friday, 10am-kick off on Saturday).
Standard match day ticket prices apply for this fixture.
COVERAGE
There will be live audio coverage for UK iFollow subscribers provided by Gary Smith from BBC Sussex & Surrey. Overseas subscribers can watch the game via the service. You can subscribe here. There will also be the usual match day coverage from the Crawley Town social media pages on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram across the afternoon.
Audio-Description receivers are available for supporters who wish to use the service. You can pick one up from Barbara Robinson at the players entrance before the game and they are free of charge.
