Crawley Town could throw in fresher legs for FA Cup replay

Could Matt Harrold make the starting line-up against Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup tonight? Picture by Jack Beard

Having held the League One side to a 1-1 draw at the Checkatrade Stadium ten days ago, Reds head to The Gas with a place in the second round at stake.

An appealing tie is up for grabs with a home draw against Barrow or Taunton Town awaiting the winners.

Ten-man Reds were forced to hold out for the replay in the last match against The Pirates as Billy Clifford notched his first goal for Reds.

Two disappointing results have followed with a 4-0 hammering by Southampton under-23s in the Checkatrade Trophy and a 3-1 League Two loss against Cambridge United on Saturday.

Reds head coach Dermot Drummy has hinted he may rotate his pack at the Memorial Stadium tonight and feels an FA Cup tie could be just what they need.

He said: “On one hand you want to recover and get on the training pitch, but sometimes there is nothing like a cup tie to get the blood going again.

“They lost on the road on Saturday, so have had a tough ten-day period. We have to go there and be very sound tactically and I have to get the players recovered to be mentally prepared.

“I think it will be a totally different game there as they will have eight or nine thousand cheering them on, we can try and silence the crowd.”

Matt Harrold and Jordan Roberts, on the comeback from injuries could be in the frame, but defensively Reds must sweat on the fitness of centre-back Mark Connolly.

He went to hospital on Saturday after a blow to the windpipe and as a result, Josh Yorwerth has been recalled from his loan spell early as cover.

Drummy added: “I have to look at the players that I have got back. Jordan Roberts got on on Saturday and I have Matt Harrold, but I also have to look as to how I can get some fresh legs into the team as well.”

Like our Crawley Town Facebook page for all the latest news on the Reds.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!