Crawley Town goalkeeper Yusuf Mersin looks forward to Portsmouth clash

The Reds’ opponents sit on top of League One after picking up 27 points from a possible 36, and also find themselves top of the Southern Section Group A after a convincing 4-0 home win over Gillingham.

Goals from Luke Gambin and Ollie Palmer saw Crawley beat Cambridge United 2-0 on Saturday, to see them record their fourth successive home victory.

Reds boss Gabriele Cioffi is expected to rotate his squad tonight and Mersin is backing the much changed team to carry on their recent good performances against stiff opposition.

Speaking to the club’s website www.crawleytownfc.com yesterday, Mersin said: “It was a brilliant result on Saturday and hopefully we can continue our good run of form.

“For the players that come in tomorrow, including me, it’s a good test against a really good Portsmouth team and hopefully we’ll get the result as well.”

Crawley currently lie second in Group A after defeating Tottenham Hotspur U21s 5-3 on penalties after playing out a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes.

Mersin praised the spirit showed by the Reds against Spurs’ youngsters and, with the opportunity of a trip to Wembley on offer for the finalists, wanted Crawley to continue their run in the competition for as long as possible.

He added: “I think we were really unfortunate to go 1-0 down but the boys showed great character to get back into the game. It went to penalties and then it’s a lottery but we came out with a good result.

“We want to win and continue this run and get through to the next round. It’s a good competition to go through.

“Everyone wants to play at Wembley, it’s everyone’s dream to play at Wembley, so hopefully we get as far as possible.”

Mersin will be replacing first choice ‘keeper Glenn Morris tonight. Morris has produced a series of fine performances in recent weeks and Mersin feels good performances when given the opportunity will help his chances of becoming Crawley’s number one.

He said: “Everyone wants to play but obviously there is only one position as a goalkeeper. Glenn got man of the match and did really well and kept us in the game (on Saturday). All I can do is continue to work hard and whenever I get an opportunity I’ll have to do well.”

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