'Nothing more frustrating' - Former Newcastle forward makes honest Crawley Town admission after win over Harrogate

Goals from Ben Gladwin and Klaidi Lolos secured the Reds’ third consecutive home win, in all competitions – but it was a hard-fought victory for the home side.

Harrogate’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time was a blow after Crawley missed chances to double their lead – and the visitors were on top when the game restarted.

However, Scott Lindsey’s side weathered the storm and managed to find a winner late on.

"We weren’t at our best, we’ve been a lot better this season and probably come out the wrong end of the results,” Campbell, who provided the assist for the captain, Gladwin, said. “It’s good to be on the opposite side of it.

"I still think we were the better team of the two but it certainly wasn’t our standards on the ball. We worked hard and, thankfully, we got the three points we needed.

"Good teams can win when they're not playing their best. There’s no one in the dressing room that thinks we’re not a good team.

"We have really good players with a lot of experience in this league and above and we’ve got people coming up from non league, like myself, who have got a point to prove. That all stems up from desire and hard work. If we get technical and tactical things right, we will not be far off.”

Scott Lindsey revealed post-match that Laurence Maguire was playing with illness, as Crawley contended with the absence of key defenders Dion Conroy and Will Wright.

Campbell, 28, said: “It’s massive [when people can carry on in tough situations]. It spurs everybody else on.

"If somebody is struggling and they’re out there for 90 minutes. We saw Loz was struggling today, Kellan [Gordon] was playing in an unfamiliar position. Jay [Williams] was struck in the face and had to get his lip glued back together at half-time. They are the hard men of the team – putting their bodies on the line.”

With their victory, Crawley brought to an end Harrogate's run of four successive away league wins.

After if the visitors were a tough team to break down, Campbell said: “Yes they were and we probably expected that because we know all about them. We’ve done our homework.

"The coaching staff are really thorough in what they do and what they tell us so we knew it was going to be a tough game. It was about playing our stuff as best we can and not get disheartened when things weren’t working.

“Klaidi scored from a corner, which is probably the unusual one of the season, but he thoroughly deserved it. He works so hard and does so much work for the team.”

Campbell is yet to play 90 minutes since returning from injury but is feeling he is closer to full fitness.

The former Notts County and Morecambe man said: “There’s nothing more frustrating than being injured.

“You just want to get back out there as soon as possible and thankfully the medical team have helped me get back quicker than I expected to.

“This league is unforgiving. It’s hard to get that fitness back. I’m feeling fit and ready to play as much as I can."