Scott Lindsey bemoans injury and fitness issues as much-changed Crawley Town lose at Barrow

The Reds made five changes from Good Friday’s 1-1 draw with Bradford City. James Tilley, Remi Oteh and Dom Telford dropped to the bench, while Dion Conroy and Kellan Gordon missed the game in Cumbria due to injury.

And a much-changed Crawley side struggled against Barrow, with Josh Gordon’s hat-trick and Ged Garner’s late strike consigning Lindsey’s charges to defeat.

The result, coupled with Hartlepool United’s draw with Stevenage, saw the Reds drop into the League Two relegation zone. Crawley are one point off Pools – and League Two safety – with five games to go.

Lindsey said: “We were beaten by the better side, obviously. They were miles better than us today.

“We’re barebones. I had to make a number of changes based on injuries and players with knocks, so it was a difficult afternoon for us.

“The team that I picked should have been capable of going out there and competing. I didn’t want to make many changes, but I had to.

“There are players who are missing today – Ben Gladwin is missing, Dion Conroy is missing, Joel Lynch is missing – with injuries.

“Harry [Ransom] is playing with a big, nasty cut on his eye, Dom Telford has got a sore ankle and a sore knee, Remi has just run himself into the ground and is at risk of pulling something because of the distance and the running that he does.

“I didn’t want to bring Dom on as early as I did, I didn’t want to bring Remi on as early as I did, but I felt we had to.

“With the team I picked, we weren’t good today.”

Next up for the Reds is a home encounter against Tranmere Rovers this Saturday.

Three out of Crawley’s five remaining League Two fixtures are at home – including a big encounter against 20th-placed Colchester United on April 18 – and Lindsey was confident the Reds’ excellent Broadfield Stadium record would play a vital role in the club’s survival bid.

He added: “We’re confident playing our games at home, certainly. Our home record has been good, but our record on the road has not been so good.

“We’ve won one away from home all season – that tells a tale.

“At home we’re relatively strong, and we have been since I’ve been here. We feel that we’ve got an opportunity, certainly in the home games, to put that right.

“I’m really confident we can get something from these home games, certainly.”