-
Form guide ahead of Saturday's game
-
Past meetings with Forest Green Rovers
-
View from the Forest Green camp
-
Latest team news
SCENE SETTER
Crawley head to the New Lawn on Saturday for our fifth EFL meeting with Forest Green Rovers.
THE FORM GUIDE
Reds suffered their first defeat in seven League 2 games against Walsall last Saturday, when we went down 3-2. We haven't won in six league and cup games.
The home side reached the play-offs last season and are challenging again for promotion. They are unbeaten in five in the League, winning three and drawing twice in that sequence, and come into the contest on the back of a 4-0 win at Salford City last Saturday. FGR are fourth in the table, just a point behind the leaders Exeter City and have the best defensive record in the division.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Forest Green Rovers Head Coach Mark Cooper: “Crawley are a very good attacking outfit, aggressive in the football they play and a threat especially in wide areas. It's an opposition we are wary of, but we are looking forward to playing them. We will have to play well to win."
PAST MEETINGS
Crawley have a reasonably good record against Saturday's opponents, winning seven and drawing four of the previous 17 meetings in non-league and, since 2017, in the EFL.
In our last match against the men in green, Forest Green ran out 2-1 winners in April at The People's Pension Stadium, despite Reds going in front through Dannie Bulman's long-range strike.
Last September in what was Gabriele Cioffi’s first away match in charge, Reuben Reid scored the only goal of the game in a match which also saw Joe McNerney sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.
During the 2017-18 campaign Forest Green won 2-0 at the New Lawn when Christian Doidge and Reid secured the win inside the opening half an hour to halt our post-Christmas surge up the table. Thomas Verheydt (pictured) had scored the Reds goal in a 1-1 draw in the return fixture at the Broadfield Stadium, equalising after Doidge’s opener.
The good news is that Reid or Doidge are no longer at Forest Green.
We had some tasty fixtures with Forest Green in our non-league days. In August 2010, just three weeks into our title-winning season, Matt Tubbs scored a penalty in a 1-0 win at home. However, that wasn’t the real story as the second half saw a whopping four red cards – two for each side – in a 14-minute spell before Tubbs struck.
The first came for Rovers’ Sean Bartlett for a second booking, then Kyle McFadzean suffered the same fate seven minutes later. Two minutes after that, Reds' goalkeeper Michel Kuipers was dismissed following an incident in the penalty area. Nick Jordan saved the subsequent spot-kick and, following the re-start, George Caines saw red for a last man challenge in the area and Tubbs struck the winner.
In the corresponding fixture in Gloucestershire three days into 2011, Matt Tubbs bagged a brace after Craig McAllister’s opener as Reds recorded a 3-0 win on the march to the Conference title on a snowy afternoon at the New Lawn.
TEAM NEWS
Joe McNerney, Ashley Nadesan and George Francomb are all sidelined by injury but Gyliano van Velzen is poised to be included in the matchday League squad for the first time after making his debut in the Leasing.com Trophy on Tuesday.
Forest Green have on-loan Bournemouth midfielder Kyle Taylor available after suspension. Kevin Dawson (calf) is a doubt and George Williams is definitely out with a broken leg.
THE MATCH OFFICIALS
Peter Wright is the referee. His only previous Crawley appointment was our first home match last season when we went down 3-1 to Stevenage.
In nine games this season he has shown one red and 32 yellow cards.
He will be assisted by Matt Smith and Marvyn Amphlett. The fourth official is Louis Marks.
TICKETS
We have received an allocation of 100 seats and 180 covered terrace tickets which are now on sale. Pre-sale closes at 3pm today (Friday).
Prices - Seats: Adults £23, Over-65s £18, Under-21 £12, Under-16 £8, Under-11 free with adult ticket.
Covered standing: Adults £20, Over-65s £16, Under-21 £10, Under-16 £7, Under-11 free with adult ticket.
Uncovered standing: Adults £18, Over-65s £14, Under-21 £9, Under-16 £6, Under-11 free with adult ticket.
Away coaches leave at 9.30am, price is £10. To book go to www.ghcoaches.co.uk
HOW THEY BET*
Crawley win: 7/4
Draw: 23/10
Forest Green Rovers win: 7/5
*Odds correct with EFL partners Sky Bet at time of writing. Please gamble responsibly.
COVERAGE
There will be live commentary from BBC Sussex & Surrey Sport's Gary Smith from 2.55pm on iFollow. He will be joined by our Commercial Manager
You can subscribe and watch the game (overseas fans only) by clicking here.
There will also be coverage across our social media channels throughout the game. @crawleytown on Twitter, Crawley Town FC on Facebook and officialcrawleytownfc on Instagram followed by post-match report and reaction.
COME ON YOU REDS!
