SCENE SETTER
Reds head to the Bescot Stadium for the first time since April 2015 tonight to face Walsall in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Crawley haven't got through to the second round of this competition since beating Ipswich Town 1-0 five years ago although since then we have been drawn away from home in the first round since then. In 2015 we lost 2-0 to Peterborough United and the following year 2-1 at Wolves.
In 2018 Birmingham City beat us 5-1 and last season we lost 2-1 at Bristol Rovers. Darrell Clarke, who is now in charge of the Saddlers, was Rovers boss for that game.
THE FORM GUIDE
Reds got their first three points of the season on Saturday when we beat Salford City 2-0. Walsall have picked up four points in their first season following relegation from League One. They followed up a 1-0 win at Northampton on opening day with a 1-1 home draw against Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Walsall boss Darrell Clarke: “The lads are gelling nicely but we want to keep getting better and the demands never go away from me. We have got a little bit of momentum now, we are unbeaten in two. Lets take that into the next game against Crawley and see where we go.”
TEAM NEWS
Joe McNerney (back) is definitely ruled out and Josh Dacres-Cogley is cup-tied, having played for Birmingham City in the competition last week.
THE MATCH OFFICIALS
The experienced Carl Boyeson is in charge tonight.
It will be the Yorkshire official's first Reds game since we drew 2-2 at home to Mansfield on the final day of the 2016-17 season. That campaign he also took charge of the 3-1 defeat at Mansfield in November 2016 and a 1-1 draw at Grimsby in March 2017.
His first Reds' appointment was a 2-1 home win over Shrewsbury in October 2011. He was also the referee when we lost 1-0 at Notts County in April 2014 and took charge of a goalless draw at Crewe on Good Friday 2015.
He will be assisted by Billy Smallwood and Rob Atkin. The fourth official is David Hunt.
TICKETS
This match is pay on the day for Reds' fans. Details here
HOW THEY BET*
Crawley win: 11/4
Draw: 5/2
Walsall win: 19/20
*Odds correct with EFL partners Sky Bet at time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.
COVERAGE
The game will be available for UK subscribers of iFollow from 7.40pm with live commentary from BBC Sussex & Surrey Sport's Gary Smith and summariser Ken Blackmore.
You must be a subscriber to listen (UK) to this service. You can subscribe here. Overseas users can also watch the action live.
There will also be coverage across our social media channels throughout the afternoon. @crawleytown on Twitter, Crawley Town FC on Facebook and officialcrawleytownfc on Instagram followed by post-match report and reaction.
COME ON YOU REDS!
