Crawley Town drew 10-1 with League Two play-off rivals Barrow at the Broadfield Stadium. Midfielder Jay Williams was booked for teh 15th time this season which means he misses the last two games of the season. This left the Reds boss angry, but he was pleased with his side's performance. Here is his full post match reaction
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00:00 How would you assess the point gained at the Broadfield Stadium?
00:07 I think we've done everything possible to try and win a game of football tonight. I
00:10 think we played really well. I think we played against a very strong defensive unit which
00:18 is really difficult to break down. But we tried everything. We tried putting the ball
00:25 wide. I thought the two wide lads in Addy and Harry Forster were outstanding today.
00:30 I thought they caused a lot of problems down the flanks. We tried to make runs in behind
00:35 from central areas. We tried shots from distance. We set pieces where the fans get so disgruntled
00:44 when we play it short. But we know what we're doing. We know where the spaces are and we
00:50 know by playing it short. The fans want us to sling the ball in the box straight away
00:56 from the corner. So do Barra, by the way. That's exactly what Barra want us to do. So
01:01 we created chances from that, from playing short and then getting shots away or getting
01:06 crosses in. I thought we did everything possible to win a game of football. We had some good
01:14 chances towards the end there. Lola said a header which probably actually ended it too
01:19 well in the end. There's some other bits and pieces and I thought we did everything possible.
01:23 Our foot players were outstanding tonight.
01:25 Obviously, Corrie made a series of good saves in the second half but especially in the first
01:29 half we seemed to limit Barra to very few chances. It always makes it more difficult
01:34 when you go 1-0 down when a team is so happy to sit back and hard to break down. Did that
01:40 disturb the game plan in any sense that you then had to chase more?
01:44 No, we knew that they'd do that from the off, which they did. Straight from the off
01:49 they did that. They kind of sit in and bank in and they play a back five and a three across
01:54 midfield and front two. They narrow the pitch off and just try and make it really hard for
02:00 you to play around their shape. First half I felt that we played around their shape but
02:10 kind of didn't play through it as well as I'd have wanted. We talked about a few things
02:14 at half-time about playing around their shape but then coming inside the pitch and making
02:20 runs off the back of them. We spoke about a few actions where we felt we could get in
02:25 and I felt we did it better in the second half. My players did everything possible to
02:32 win that game today. We came across a really good, strong defensive unit today. I know
02:38 we scored a goal penalty but it was difficult to break them down. We tried everything possible.
02:46 I thought their keeper was probably their best player.
02:48 It's always hard when you go into the break one nil down. What was the message you gave
02:53 to the lads at half-time? It did seem that they came out properly out of the races and
02:57 were giving it a right go. Is there any specific message that you gave to them at half-time?
03:01 I didn't talk about them too much defensively because I thought we was okay. I thought the
03:05 goal shape looked a bit wrong. The right-hand side centre half carried the ball up the pitch
03:11 too far for me and I think we could have jumped. We were a little bit out of sorts with that
03:15 shape. So defensively, I didn't speak about anything but we spoke about how we were going
03:19 to get through their shape. We spoke about three actions where I think we could hurt
03:26 them and like I say, I think we did that better in the second half. But yeah, we had all the
03:32 ball. I would imagine our xG would be higher than theirs. Like I say, I think their keeper
03:40 had a blinder. I thought he made some really good saves. He made a really good save in
03:43 the first half from Lola. Lola gets in behind them and God knows how he makes that save
03:47 but he does. He makes himself really big and I thought he was their best player tonight.
03:51 Ultimately, it is a point in the right direction. It's a point that keeps us in those places
03:55 with two massive games to go. So I suppose the message to the players would be we've
03:59 got two massive games ahead of us and keep the faith because again, it's still in our
04:03 hands.
04:04 Everything's positive in that dressing room now because I'm really pleased with the way
04:09 we played tonight. I think we showed a real character to try and win a game of football
04:13 against a good side. Like I say, there were some really outstanding performances tonight.
04:17 I thought Adi was brilliant. Obviously, tired towards the end. He'd run out of steam.
04:24 Harry Forster, I thought was outstanding as well. You know all the time he's on the
04:30 pitch that something can happen. We put Adam on the pitch because he's obviously got goals
04:34 in him. We put Roles on the pitch because he can create stuff in the final third and
04:39 we obviously needed that goal. So we brought Jay off. I've got to be honest with you, I'm
04:45 really disappointed with the booking of Jay. The fourth official gets him booked and I
04:51 just don't understand it. Jeremy makes the foul and he books Jay. Now Jay's missing for
04:59 the next two games. Incredible.
05:04 The positive message obviously needs to be echoed to the fans. We've got these two big
05:08 games ahead of us. One of those away at Sutton. It's one of those local derby ones. We've
05:12 already sold well in advance of 850 tickets. Looking to tick over to 1,000. As you said
05:19 at the start of the interview, fans can easily get disgruntled but we need to put everything
05:23 beside us now and really get the lads rocking away at Sutton for these next two games.
05:29 Yeah, there's nothing better than a local derby. We've got two games to go and we're
05:35 in the play-offs and they need their points to stay up. It's a massive game for both clubs.
05:42 So we're going to embrace that and enjoy it. If we play anything like that we'll be alright.
05:46 You had some quite strong words after the Colchester defeat on Saturday for your players.
05:51 You must have been really pleased with the way they've reacted, especially with the defence.
05:54 Yeah, listen, the strong words were... I actually didn't have strong words for the players.
06:00 I just felt that we became a little bit sloppy and unprofessional in moments. I actually
06:05 think we played quite well against Colchester. I just felt that we've got to remain focused.
06:13 Whilst these games are really important, it's even more so reason to have full focus and
06:17 I felt that we dropped our focus a little bit in a couple of moments in that game. But
06:25 tonight I've got no complaints. I've got no complaints at all. I thought we were very
06:29 good. I thought we did everything we could to win this game of football tonight, apart
06:34 from put the ball over the line the second time. So yeah, I'm really pleased with the
06:40 performance. Of course we wanted three points tonight. It was really important we got three
06:44 points tonight. But we haven't and there's nothing we can do about it now because it's
06:47 gone. All we can do is keep encouraging the players to play that way and I think if we
06:53 play that way in the next two games I think we'll be fine.
06:56 I don't want to get you in any kind of trouble but going back to the Jay Williams thing,
07:00 how frustrating is that for you?
07:02 It's just a joke. I just don't understand why Jeremy makes the foul and the referee's
07:10 not blown the whistle for a foul. Jay comes in and wins the tackle and then he blows for
07:15 a foul. But it's Jeremy that's made the foul. Why are we booking Jay? And the fourth official
07:22 standing right there. It's big as belief. And we're dealing with these situations every
07:29 week, every Saturday, every Tuesday, every game there's a situation with a referee or
07:35 an official every week. The importance of this game is massive for both clubs. He's
07:46 made a decision that's now going to affect me moving forward in the next two games and
07:51 it's the wrong decision. I can go in there and moan about it but nothing will get done.
07:58 That's the big thing for me. He's booked the wrong person. It's clear, so clear.
08:02 And like you say the repercussions for you.
08:05 The repercussions is he misses two games now. The biggest two games in this football
08:09 club's history he misses. And he's probably been arguably my best player. He's a rock
08:15 in the middle of the park and he's done so, so well for me yet he can't play in these
08:21 next two games now because the decision's wrong. He should be looked at. It's not fair.
08:27 Absolutely. Now looking at Sutton, I know they're all huge games now but these decisions
08:35 from the referee have made you think about probably you have to change your plans for
08:38 that game now.
08:39 Yeah I've not thought about that yet. Obviously I'm going to go home tonight and I'll watch
08:49 our game back in the morning and in the afternoon I'll watch loads of Sutton and come Thursday
08:54 I'll be prepared and ready to go and know exactly what I'm doing. But yeah, obviously
09:00 the game's just finished so I've not really looked at Sutton yet so I don't know what
09:03 I'm going to do.
09:04 Thanks Scott.
09:05 Thank you.
09:06 Just quickly on Jay, Scott, there's nothing really you can say to him is there? This is
09:12 the thing. What can you say to him to make him feel any better after that? How has he
09:18 taken it?
09:19 Well I spoke to him yesterday. I felt that he's played with the handbrake on over the
09:23 last two games actually and I've said to him, "Look, don't play with the handbrake
09:27 on. This is such an important game and I want you to play like you play." I don't want
09:33 you to get bookmined but play like you play. I thought he was unfortunate. I think he's
09:39 really, really unfortunate. I think he's unlucky. I think the referee's targeting him and I
09:44 think that was a prime example of that. I really do.
09:47 There's not much you can say is there really?
09:50 It's unfair on the kid. It's his first year playing like proper professional football.
09:56 I know he's at Northampton before but this is his first year as a seasoned pro. He's
10:02 come out of non-league, he's done absolutely outstanding for me and then he gets punished
10:08 for something that he hasn't done. I just beg his belief. I'm really, really angry about
10:14 it. There's nothing we can do.