John Yems: Crawley's defeat against Bolton 'didn't reflect the whole season'

"Hopefully it's us dancing around the pitch next year."
Crawley Town boss John Yems. Photo: Getty ImagesCrawley Town boss John Yems. Photo: Getty Images
Crawley Town boss John Yems. Photo: Getty Images

Those were the words of Crawley manager John Yems after his side were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.

See how we rated the players hereThe result, which confirmed the visitors' automatic promotion, sealed a mid-table finish for the Reds.

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Yems was disappointed by the performance, which he felt 'just wasn't good enough' and didn't live up to previous impressive wins over teams above them — including today's visitors.

"The result reflected the day," he added. "You can say it's been a great season but you're judged on your last game. We could have done better.

"The squad was down to do the bare bones again today but you are who you are and we're in mid-table.

"We didn't want to spoil the party, we wanted to be the party. They deserve to go up, they're a big club.

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"We've been punching above our weight for a lot of the season. It is what it is so congratulations to them.

"It's a shame today didn't reflect the whole season."

Yems admitted he didn't enjoy watching Bolton celebrating their promotion, adding: "Hopefully it's us dancing around the pitch next year.

"It's a bitter pill to swallow but you've got to take it.

"Next season has started already. We want to improve and be better than we are.

"You can say that, at least we weren't looking at the trapdoor and needing a win to stay up, but to me that's a cop-out. We need to be winning things."

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Yems said his players have felt the absence of fans in the stadium.

"Everyone misses the fans," he said. "They would have made a difference but it's the team that are out there.

"It's my first full season and it hasn't really been a full season. The travelling has killed us and we've had players out with Covid.

"Some of the teams below us show how far we have come. I think we've beaten the top ten sides. Some of them, home and away.

"They've done well but have a long way to go."