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Form guide ahead of Saturday's game
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Past meetings with the U's
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How SkyBet see the match
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Latest team news
SCENE SETTER
Crawley return to The People's Pension Stadium on Saturday to take on Colchester United in Sky Bet League 2, kick off 3pm.
THE FORM GUIDE
Reds are looking to end a run of four league games without a win.
Colchester didn’t make the best of starts to the season, but they are on an upward trajectory, with one defeat in their last nine league games – five of which they have won – lifting them up to eighth in the table.
When you add in progress to the last 16 of the Carabao Cup thanks to penalty shoot-out victories over two Premier League clubs - Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur - they are in good form.
PAST MEETINGS
Crawley have an excellent record against Colchester, having lost just three times to the U’s in 12 Football League meetings. We have won five and drawn four of the other nine fixtures.
Those defeats came in three successive games between 2017 and last season's trip to the Weston Homes Community Stadium when Filipe Morais scored from the spot but we fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Joe McNerney was shown a straight red card in the first half of our New Year's Day meeting at The People's Pension Stadium but the ten men turned on the style in the second half. Luke Gambin's two goals sealed a 2-0 win and Luke, who was on loan with us at the time, ended up signing for the U's in the summer.
Our last home league win over the U’s prior to then was in March 2014, when Mike Jones’ first half goal sealed a 1-0 success.
Jimmy Smith scored what was only the second Football League hat-trick by a Reds player in a 3-2 success at Colchester in 2016 and in our League One relegation campaign we also won 3-2 in Essex, with Izale McLeod's second-half penalty proving decisive.
TEAM NEWS
Joe McNerney, Ollie Palmer, Ashley Nadesan and George Francomb are still out for Reds.
Kwame Poku and Brendan Wiredu picked up knee injuires in Tuesday's Leasing.com Trophy tie against Tottenham and are doubts.
THE MATCH OFFICIALS
Martin Coy will be in charge on Saturday, his most recent Reds appointment being the 1-0 defeat at Mansfield Town back in January. His only other Crawley game was a 2-2 draw at Carlisle United in March 2018. He will be assisted by Justin Amey and Paul Lister. The fourth official is Adrian Waters.
TICKETS
Tickets are on sale now and remember UNDER-11s GET FREE ADMISSION *
TICKET PRICES:
| Adults | Concessions | U21 | U18 | U16 | U11 | |
| Mayo Wynne Baxter West | 22 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 4 | Free |
| People's Pension East | 20 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 4 | Free |
| Structured Communications South | 16 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 4 | Free |
* Under-11s need to be with a paying adult to gain free admission and they must have a ticket. Anyone buying an under-21, under-18, under-16 ticket will need proof of ID.
HOW TO BUY
Online and print at home here
Box Office: Now open
By phone: 01293 410000
HOW THEY BET*
Crawley win: 17/10
Draw: 9/4
Colchester United win: 6/4
*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 ex-Reds captain Tony Vessey.
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!
