Crawley Town boss wants fans to make it 'horrible' for Newport County

Crawley welcome top of the league Newport to the People’s Pension Stadium on Boxing Day, a week after Max Watters got the winner in a 2-1 success at Leyton Orient.

The Reds are unbeaten in five in the league and Yems was pleased with an important away win for Crawley: “It was a very good result away from home, it’s a tough place to go to, thoroughly deserved,” he said.

Jake Hessenthaler received praise on social media following an impressive midfield display, and Yems believes he was part of an excellent team effort last Saturday.

“He was important, same as everyone else, he’s still part of the team. He’s an important part of the team, same as everyone else in the team, that’s what it is. He’s another player that’s done very, very well and that’s why we’ve signed him.”

The result at Brisbane Road was Crawley’s second away win in the league, already more than the Reds achieved in all of last season, and Yems hopes that this will be a boost for his players.

“It should be a boost for everybody that we’re winning games, let’s hope we get a few more. We’ve done well and we’ve won two away in the cup, and two in the league so let’s keep going.”

On Saturday Crawley face Newport, 2019’s playoff semi-finalists and this season’s front runners, and Yems expects a stern challenge from the Exiles.

“I expect a very good challenge, they’re top of the league. They’re not top of the league for no reason, they’re a very well-organised side, they’ve done absolutely outstanding this year to keep it going and we’re expecting a very hard game."

Crawley Town are a side lucky enough to still be able to play in front of fans as Crawley remains in Tier 2, and Yems believes it could be a useful advantage over those who still have to play behind closed doors: “It’s an advantage when we’re winning, let’s hope the fans keep getting behind us, and let’s make it horrible for teams to come and play here, that’s what we want to do.”

Kick-off on Boxing Day is 3pm.