Crawley Town v Walsall preview with Scott Lindsey

SussexWorld

Crawley Town face League Two leaders Walsall on Saturday looking to get their first league win almost a month. Here is Scott Lindsey with his thoughts ahead of the game

Transcript

00:01Scott, we've got league leaders Walsall coming on Saturday. You said on Tuesday night, bring them on.

00:06It's a game to get excited about, isn't it?

00:08Yeah, I think, listen, if you're going to win a game, let's beat the team who are top of the league, eh?

00:12That's the way we've got to look at it. We've got to approach it in that manner, you know.

00:18I think that, you look at Walsall, they're at the top of the league for a reason,

00:23because they're very good at what they do, and they churn it out every week.

00:26They don't change. They're very similar from one game to the next, and they're very efficient at it.

00:33We've got to try and get that level of consistency in our game.

00:37You know, so I think it's a good game for us to attack.

00:41I think it's a game that I feel confident, even though they are where they are,

00:46and we are where we are. I still feel confident.

00:48You know, I watch Walsall in detail after the Leighton Orient game on Tuesday.

00:55Sorry, Wednesday.

00:57You know, when I watch the game, I feel that there's a team there that's really efficient about what they do.

01:01They're actually probably the best team I've ever seen at winning a game without a football.

01:07You know, they're very, very good at not having the ball and picking their moments to pounce, and they do it so, so well.

01:14We've just got to make sure that we're really on it in everything we do,

01:19and make sure that we don't turn the ball over in dangerous areas,

01:22and make sure that we're really clean with our possession and passing,

01:25and hopefully we cause them a few problems the other way as well.

01:28So you're expecting to have a lot of possession, are you, again? I know you normally do.

01:32I think what they are is they're a team that run really hard, Walsall.

01:36They've got some really hard, fast runners who can compete really well,

01:42but they almost let you have the ball and wait for their moment.

01:46So, yeah, I'm expecting to have the ball, but I expect to have the ball in every game,

01:51if the truth be known.

01:53We've just got to make sure that we don't get bored of having the ball,

01:57and try and force things, and also, we've got to be fast with the ball.

02:01I don't want us to be slow.

02:03If their team's going to sit in and not bank in so much,

02:06but they're very clever about what they do, and they jump at right moments,

02:10we've just got to make sure that we manoeuvre the ball around the pitch really quickly,

02:14rather than be slow with the action which we've been accused of before.

02:18So, it's going to be an interesting game.

02:21One that I'm looking forward to, because I think it's a challenge for us to take on the team

02:27who are top of the league, but it's one that we relish and we take on.

02:31And you said before the Barrow game, it didn't quite work out,

02:34but you wanted the players to come out like Zebedee.

02:36Is that the message to the players again, I assume, to get the crowd going?

02:40I think so, yeah.

02:41And I think the players have got that within their capability.

02:44I think it's in-game where we've got to remain present.

02:48I think there's been moments in the game that knock us too easy.

02:51And we've got to get used to that.

02:53We're not always going to get it our own way.

02:54We're not always going to go 1-0 up or 2-0 up.

02:57There's going to be times when we're 1-0 down.

03:00We can't afford it to knock us like it has done in the past.

03:03It's almost like, oh, here we go again kind of attitude.

03:06We can't afford to have that attitude, especially in league football.

03:09You've got to be on it at every moment.

03:12And yeah, we're never going to always get it our own way.

03:14And sometimes you've got to come from behind.

03:16You've got to still dig in.

03:18And I felt even at Cambridge on Saturday where at 2-0,

03:22I fancied us to stay in the game and still kind of like knock the door down.

03:26And then we have a really bad third goal, which, you know, for me was,

03:31it was the end of the game then.

03:34Do you know what I mean?

03:35It became sort of like out of reach at that moment,

03:37but I never thought it was out of reach at 2-0.

03:40I really didn't.

03:41And you could see with the chances that we had late on,

03:43you know, had it have been to against us,

03:46we potentially would have got something out of it.

03:48And that's why we've got to keep, you know, stick to the task and keep playing

03:51and don't just fold as easy as we do.

03:54I think that we're a team that probably in the past lacked a little bit of confidence.

03:59And then when we go 1-0 down, it almost feels like, oh, here we go again.

04:02That's got to change and it's got to change really quickly.

04:05And, you know, we can't always think we're going to go 1-0 up

04:09and it's going to be plain sailing and rosy because it's not,

04:11football's not like that.

04:12And we've got to learn really quickly.

04:14Yeah. And you said after Tuesday's game,

04:16you've got some things to think about, certainly with team selection,

04:18because they played so well Tuesday.

04:20Has this been like the hardest week so far this season to pick a side?

04:24Yeah, I think so.

04:25I think probably so.

04:26And listen,

04:27there were some brilliant performances on Tuesday and I thought we played really well,

04:30especially in that first half.

04:31I thought we looked really assured.

04:32And I was pleased with loads of it.

04:34So, yeah, it's given me, I wouldn't say a headache,

04:37it's just given me food for thought.

04:39And I think there's a lot of players who have trained well

04:43and trained their self into the team.

04:45And there's players who have played their way into the team.

04:47And I think maybe you'll see some at the weekend that that's happened to.

04:52Yeah. And we saw Harry go off at half time.

04:54Can you give us an update on him? And what about Addy and Harvey as well?

04:58Yeah.

04:59Addy, he's probably still a week away, maybe.

05:03Yeah, maybe a week away.

05:05Harry, same again, he's not going to be, it's not long term,

05:10but potentially wouldn't be in time for this weekend.

05:14And Harvey probably has to tick a few boxes before we deem him fit.

05:19I think with Harvey, you know, obviously it's a finger.

05:23So it's kind of like, not a big injury as such, but he's a goalkeeper.

05:27So we've got to make sure that he ticks a few boxes first before we consider him.

05:32Yeah. And Kahim's missing, isn't he?

05:34Yeah, Kahim's obviously on international duty as well.

05:36So, yeah, he's missing as well.

05:37Yeah, it's a bit frustrating.

05:38You keep having these, you can't, like you said,

05:40you touched on it last week about consistency.

05:42Yeah, it is what I think.

05:44I don't, I don't honestly know.

05:46I need to probably look at this.

05:47I know we've not played that many games,

05:49but I don't even think we've played the same team twice.

05:51I don't think you have, no.

05:53And that becomes frustrating.

05:55You know, you look at the likes of Walsall,

05:57I think they have many a times, you know,

05:59and I think that they'll play the same team, you know,

06:02not that I'm trying to give their secrets away or anything,

06:04but I think they'll play the same team that played the last game,

06:06that played the last game, do you know what I mean?

06:07Yeah.

06:08And they've had that luxury.

06:09We haven't, we just haven't had that with injuries, suspensions,

06:11and, you know, even Lofty last week couldn't play against his parent club.

06:15And this week we've got Kahim Dixon missing, you know,

06:18and a few injuries.

06:19So, yeah, it's frustrating, but that's kind of what the job is.

06:22You know, we seem to be, you know, the start of the season,

06:27that has seemed to be a little bit stop start for,

06:30certainly for team selection.

06:31And it's been difficult to try and, you know,

06:34get that continuity within the team selection,

06:37but it is what it is.

06:38And we've just got to kind of not moan and get on with it.

06:41Yeah.

06:42And the club published its nominations for player of the month of September.

06:45I think it was Harry McCurdy, Harvey Davis,

06:47Gerardo Badrami and Dion Pereira.

06:49I just wanted to focus on Gerardo a little bit,

06:52because he's someone who came in quite late in the transfer window

06:55and he's just settled in straight away and just gone around his business.

06:58What does he bring to the side?

06:59And how impressed have you been how quickly he settled?

07:01I think he brings a calmness to our play.

07:05I think that he's played in possession teams before,

07:08that he understands what's needed and kind of to have that calm head

07:12in the middle of the pitch.

07:14I think he understands positioning around the pitch.

07:17He understands kind of like what's needed at what moment in the game,

07:20which obviously comes through experience.

07:22So he gives us that little bit of experience that we've probably not had.

07:26I think he probably does more in the games than people probably give him credit for.

07:32Maybe he goes under the radar a little bit.

07:34But he certainly doesn't with me.

07:36I think he's a great player and I think he's done fantastically well for us.

07:39Yeah. And earlier this week we saw Tobias Phoenix leave.

07:42Does that mean more work for you in the short term with the roles he did?

07:46And are we expecting another sporting director to come in?

07:49No, I don't think short term it means more work for me.

07:52I think that there will be another appointment in that role.

07:58I think it will be more geared towards the recruitment side of it as opposed to a...

08:04I don't think titles really matter whether it's sporting director,

08:07director of football, head of recruitment, whatever it may be,

08:10you know, performance director, whatever.

08:12You know, there's so many different titles now, isn't there?

08:14I don't think it really matters what the title is,

08:16but it will be mainly focused around recruitment.

08:19I think it's impossible nowadays for a manager to do it and to do it all on his own.

08:24I think to have somebody here to do that job,

08:27to identify kind of players that sit into the way we play,

08:31to have a depth chart and probably two or three players in each position on a depth chart,

08:37from window to window because, you know, even though we have a full squad as it were,

08:44you're kind of always looking to improve on that and always looking to, you know,

08:48whether it's bringing more in or just improving on top of what you've got,

08:53you're always looking.

08:54So I don't think there needs to be loads of changes, even though the season so far would suggest that we're not good,

09:03you know, because of where we are.

09:06I don't actually think we deserve to be where we are personally.

09:09I think that we're, if you look at a lot of the stats, we're kind of quite high up on a lot of the good stats,

09:15you know, really high up, even on XG and things like that.

09:18We're, I think we're top six or seven for XG, XG4 and shots on target.

09:24I think we're in the top four or something madness like that, you know.

09:27So there's a lot of the good stats that we're actually in a good position or should be in a good position.

09:32And probably our points that we've gained from our games have not been enough from our performances.

09:40A lot of people might argue that, I don't know, but that's the truth, you know.

09:44A lot of the stats are kind of in our favour.

09:47So we've kind of underperformed a little bit.

09:50So, yeah, I think it's more about having somebody to come in and help along with the recruitment

09:55and to really take that mantra on and, you know, have a way and a process of working more than anything.

10:02And finally, have you got a priest in this week to bless the Goalmouth?

10:05I've spoke to Raph, actually, and I was deadly serious about it because I do think that it needs doing.

10:13Fair enough.

10:14Thanks, God.

10:15Good luck Saturday.

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