Crawley Town scorer Ollie Palmer admits it was frustrating to watch from the sidelines

He returned to the side in fine style on Saturday, scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot in their 1-0 victory against Cheltenham Town.

The former Lincoln City striker revealed there is more to come from him as he tries to regain 100 per cent match-fitness.

He said: “I’ve just been working really hard, it’s been a long seven weeks because I had a one-game ban for five yellow cards followed by a five-game ban for the red card.”

Palmer admitted he was pleased head coach Gabriele Cioffi had faith in him to make the selection decision for him to go straight into the starting line-up.

He said: “It’s down to the gaffer, he picks the team, obviously I was doing well before that so I just had to stay fit and he felt I was ready to go straight back in.”

“Of course it’s frustrating, especially over Christmas with how many games there were. Fortunately it was over the Christmas period and the games are coming thick and fast.”

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Crawley Town head coach Gabriele Cioffi says the will not to concede led to their third clean sheet in a rowMatch report: Ollie Palmer’s first half goal earns victory against Cheltenham TownClubs race to sign Ollie Palmer in transfer windowPalmer undertands Cioffi is always keen to push him to achieve more and reckons he needs to recover fitness after his period out of the team.

He said: “Probably he wants me to get more match-fitness - obviously I was doing well personally before the bans and I know I can do more, I was very tired today.

“The gaffer always wants more; he always works hard every single day, he’s always pushing the lads, he’s a fantastic guy, he has been great for me and he’s going to keep pushing me.

“That is someone you want to be working with. He always believes in you and wants you to do more.

“But credit to the lads; they put their heart into the performance.”