Crawley have the opportunity to win their first home match in over a month when league strugglers Macclesfield Town visit The People's Pension Stadium.
SCENE SETTER
Crawley have not won at home since January 5th but have been unbeaten in their last three away games, including a rare draw for the Reds in their last match at Northampton a week ago. Macclesfield remain in the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw with Colchester last time out but have drawn their last two matches in the league and are just a point off safety.
FORM GUIDE
The Reds have accumulated five points from their last five matches, winning one, drawing two and losing two. Their last victory was on January 26th when they beat Swindon 1-0 away from home. Macclesfield have also gained five points from five games, with an identical record of won one, drawn two, lost two. They've been involved in some hig- scoring games in that run too, with a 3-3 draw against Crewe, a 3-1 defeat to Mansfield and a 3-2 loss at Cheltenham.
THE HISTORY
Saturday's meeting with Macclesfield will be only the fourth in our history, although the visitors do have a place in the recent history of the Reds.
The Silkmen were our first ever home opponents in the Football League back in August 2011 and the Reds, then managed by Steve Evans, won 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Tyrone Barnett and Wes Thomas, although the winning margin could have been much greater such was Crawley’s dominance.
The return fixture at Moss Rose in March 2012 also saw the Reds take a 2-0 lead but we were pegged back in this one. Claude Davis’s goal coupled with Kyle McFadzean’s second-half finish put the Reds in control before a late push from the hosts saw them draw level with two goals in the final five minutes. Vinny Mukendi and George Donnelly were the players that snatched a point for Macc, whose side included Mark Connolly.
December’s trip to Moss Rose was our first in six years following Macclesfield’s relegation to the National League at the end of the 2011-12 campaign.
Conditions were extremely difficult with a gale-force wind accompanied by heavy rain but the hosts ran out 2-0 winners. The wind caught a strike from Elliott Durrell to take it past Glenn Morris for 1-0, before the floodlights went out at half time.
The swirling winds played havoc and both sides struggled during the second half. Advertising boards were even ripped from their positions at pitch-side. The lights were restored after a 15-minute delay to the start of the second half and Harry Smith doubled the Macclesfield lead five minutes from time.
TEAM NEWS
Jimmy Smith is still a long term absentee for the Reds and it remains uncertain when he will return to action. Ibrahim Meite is yet to make an appearance in his second spell at Crawley, but he has been training this week and could make the match day squad. Luke Gambin is also in the running for a return to action after missing last week's game with a hip problem.
THE MATCH OFFICIALS
Alan Young will be the referee for Saturday's clash.
Mr Young has only officiated one Crawley game previously and that was Gabriele Cioffi's first game in charge when the Reds beat Morecambe 2-0.
His last match was Portsmouth's 1-1 draw with Doncaster at Fratton Park on February 2. He has given out 107 yellow cards and 3 red cards in his 25 matches, having been promoted to a Football League official at the start of the season.
He will be assisted by Kevin Howick and Nicholas Cooper. The fourth official is Matthew Lee.
COVERAGE
The game will be available for UK subscribers of iFollow from 2.55pm with live commentary from BBC Sussex & Surrey Sport's Gary Smith and summariser Tony Vessey.
You must be a subscriber to listen (UK) to this service. You can subscribe here. Overseas users can of course 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 crawley_town_fc on Instagram.