Crawley Town travel to Birmingham City on Good Friday looking for a vital three points in their battle against relegation in League One.
Here is Scott Lindsey's preview where he talks about how good Birmingham are, where he thinks his squad is at and the goalkeeper situation
Here is Scott Lindsey's preview where he talks about how good Birmingham are, where he thinks his squad is at and the goalkeeper situation
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00:00Scott, thank you for joining us. Four games to go for the rest of the season and it's a very exciting one coming up next as we travel to the Champions, Birmingham City. Can I get your thoughts out of that one?
00:09Yeah, a game we're looking forward to. Obviously, big stadium, big crowd, good side, obviously. And we're going to try and go there and win the game.
00:21Listen, we're at the point now where we've got to throw everything at it. I think we've been at that point for a while, actually. And I think that the players have thrown everything at it.
00:34Unfortunately, we've not probably got the results that maybe we deserved. And yeah, we're going to go for it. We're going to go for it and turn up and try and play our way.
00:48Obviously, playing against a very good side. But, you know, football's got that about it where anything can happen. So we're just going to go there and give it our best shot.
01:03Yeah, there's obviously a lot on the line for us. Is this the sort of game, as you say, with a big crowd, it would be a sellout, I imagine, first game since they have been crowd champions. Is this the sort of game that our players should relish playing in?
01:13I think so, yeah. I can't wait to get there. And I think the players should feel that as well.
01:18And I think listening to the group and speaking to the group and debriefing the last game and kind of going through the training sessions this week,
01:27I think that there seems to be an excitement about this game from my players.
01:31So, you know, I want us to really go there and do well. You know, I want us to do well against a good side and hopefully we'll have enough to go and upset and, you know, create some goal scoring opportunities and put the ball in the back of the net and hopefully stop them from doing so.
01:50So, yeah, listen, we are where we are. We know what we've got to do and we've just got to go and do it.
01:57Yeah, as a club, we've notoriously performed quite well in these sort of big occasions, you know, specifically under you, especially, of course, last season.
02:04Is there anything that you put that down to? Is it just the pure excitement of player who's playing for, you know, a club of our size gets from, you know, playing in such a big stadium in front of such a big crowd?
02:12I don't think it matters, really. I think that, you know, I think that footballers should relish playing football every Saturday, no matter where we're playing, you know, whether it's at home or away or in front of 10 people.
02:25It doesn't matter. They should relish kind of performing and, you know, preparing to perform, which I've seen this week.
02:33Just want to see a really good performance on Friday and hope that we can, you know, do ourselves proud against a really good side.
02:40Yeah, what's the mood been like at the training ground this week? Obviously, there's a frustrating defeat at the weekend to Leighton, or the players yourself would have had time to sort of watch that back.
02:49So what was the feeling and discussions like on Monday and throughout the week?
02:52I think from my point of view that, and I said it after the game, that I thought we were very good.
02:57What I meant by that was I thought we were very good for one half.
03:01But unfortunately, football's played in two halves and we didn't perform as well in the second half.
03:06And I felt that we got ourselves in a really good position, obviously 1-0 up and playing well.
03:14And then one ball down the middle of the pitch, we can't defend.
03:19We then find ourselves 1-0 and then 10 seconds from the kickoff, we can't, you know, play an action that's very, very simple.
03:27We turn the ball over and then we find ourselves 2-1 down within the space of two minutes of being 1-0 up.
03:35And because it happened so quickly, we didn't seem to recover from that.
03:41And I didn't feel as if, I think the players felt beat at that moment, which is no good to me.
03:49You know, it's me as the manager now, I want my group to always never give up until the final whistle.
03:56And we look like we, I don't think we threw the towel in, but I don't think we had enough about us to go and try and get back in the game.
04:04Which was disappointing, given the position that we find ourselves in.
04:09I think the players have been amazing since I've come in.
04:11I think they've worked extremely hard.
04:12I think they've done really well in all the games.
04:14I felt that there was elements of fatigue in the Stevenage game.
04:20And I felt that the Leighton Orient game, we put ourselves in a really good position, but let ourselves down.
04:27Shot ourselves in the foot a little bit.
04:30But lots to be positive about, certainly in the first half.
04:33If you look at how we played in that first half, I thought we were really good.
04:35Some really good actions against the team we were trying to get in the playoffs.
04:41So, we're not a million miles away, but we are a million miles away.
04:46And we need to get as many points as we can get now in these next four games.
04:53Is it too early to say still about the injuries that we picked up last week, specifically Armando who was obviously forced?
04:58Well, we've got a lot of injuries at the moment.
05:01We're looking at the board today and I want to do an 11 v 11.
05:04I've not even got enough players to do 11 v 11 in training today.
05:09So, we've had to draft some in from the foundation to make up the numbers.
05:15So, yeah, we're really kind of Fred Bear at the moment in terms of numbers.
05:21But it is what it is.
05:23That's why we build a squad.
05:25We'll have enough to fill the bench on Friday.
05:28So, yeah, it's just kind of the situation we find ourselves in.
05:33But I'm not going to sit here and moan about that.
05:36We have to pick a team that are capable of getting something at Birmingham City on Friday.
05:41Yeah, we spoke obviously about the game being a big occasion for the players.
05:44It's obviously going to be a big occasion for the fans as well.
05:47I think it will be maybe the eighth ex-Premier League team we've played so far in League One this season.
05:51You know, over 500 have already bought tickets already.
05:53So, it will be a great occasion, not just for the players and staff, but for the club as well.
05:57Yeah, I think so.
05:58And I think the fans should kind of come to these games and, you know, really enjoy it.
06:02And get behind the lads like they do.
06:04And have a good day out.
06:06And hopefully we'll be celebrating at the end.
06:08It's going to be a tough game.
06:09We know that.
06:10But hopefully we can get something from it.
06:12And hopefully we'll celebrate at the end with the fans.
06:15Brilliant.
06:17Obviously, Birmingham were favourites from the start.
06:20Sorry, excuse me.
06:21From the start of the season based on budget and the players.
06:23They brought in and that.
06:24I mean, obviously you think they're probably worthy winners.
06:26But what has impressed you most about them from what you've watched and seen from them?
06:30Just listen.
06:31Every player is a good player.
06:33You know, you look at their squad.
06:35You look at their lads who come off the bench.
06:37Some proper players in their team.
06:39And I really like the way they play.
06:41They have the ball.
06:43You know, they're very good at building possession.
06:46They play through the thirds really well.
06:48But also, they can go direct at times and really hurt you that way as well.
06:55Defensively, really strong.
06:57So, pretty much every aspect of football they've impressed me with.
07:00You know, it's nice to see an English manager do really well at a big club like that.
07:07I think that's good for us as coaches, as English coaches.
07:11He's a young manager that's his first job.
07:15So, you know, congratulations to him.
07:18I think he's done a fantastic job.
07:21And, yeah, we're looking forward to the game because I think it's, and I said this against
07:27Leighton Orient before the game, that we like to play against good sides because it can only
07:31be good for us moving forward.
07:34You know, I think it's good experience for my team, my players, to play against a good
07:39side like that.
07:40And it will only help us moving forward.
07:42Yeah.
07:43And does going to a club like Birmingham with the stadium, with their budget and that,
07:48sort of epitomise the challenge Crawley has had this year because although people might
07:52be, oh, God, we're down in the relegation zone, in the relegation zone, it has been a
07:57really tough season.
07:58I mean, Sam just mentioned you played eight former Premier League sides.
08:01But that's why he got promoted.
08:02That's why we're in this division.
08:05You want to play these teams.
08:07You want to play at these stadiums.
08:08You don't, that's why it's so, like, we're so desperate to stay in the division because
08:13of these reasons.
08:14You know, every manager, every coach, every player, everybody involved in football wants
08:21to play at the highest level they want to play at for these reasons.
08:24You know, and we want to, we desperately want to stay in this division for them reasons
08:29because we want to play against the likes of Birmingham City.
08:32And, you know, you look at kind of teams who are coming down or potentially could come
08:36down from the championship next season.
08:38It's like incredible.
08:39And we want to, we want to play against these teams.
08:42And little old Crawley, yeah, we are.
08:44But if we, if we go really organised and have a real good game plan, there's no reason why
08:49we can't perform against these teams.
08:54And I think we've shown that in past games, definitely.
08:58You know, my last game, actually, before I left to go to Milton Keynes, was against
09:04Wrexham.
09:05Yeah.
09:05And big old Wrexham, massive, massive club, massive fan base, massive budget, everything.
09:10We were outstanding in that game.
09:12You know, really, really played well.
09:14And I'm really proud of how we played in that last game.
09:17And even sort of like when you play in the competitions as well, like the Carabao Cup,
09:20we played Brighton away at the Amex.
09:23And, you know, we, we got beat, but we, we done ourselves proud in that game as well.
09:28I think that that's the reason why you want to play and stay in this division, because
09:33there's, there's no reason why a team like little old Crawley can't compete against these
09:38teams, given the fact that you, if you have a good group and you coach them well, why can't
09:45we, you know?
09:48And I think that we find ourselves at the moment, probably not in that great position.
09:53We're in a precarious position where the, the club, the whole feel around the place,
09:58the players, even though there's been an uplift since I've come in, which there has, and
10:02there's been an uplift in performance and certainly on a couple of occasions in terms
10:06of results, but we still do find ourselves in a, in a really sticky situation.
10:11I think if we were to, to survive, I think it would be a different feeling next season
10:17in terms of us competing against these teams, because I would build a narrative where it
10:22is little old Crawley, but actually we're not bad.
10:25Yeah.
10:26And at the moment we're not bad, but we're not great either, if that makes sense.
10:30So we need to, we need to, and this is why these next four games, we've got to try and
10:35forget about what we've been.
10:36We've got to try and look at what we're going to be.
10:38Yeah.
10:39Whether that's in this division or the one below.
10:42Brilliant.
10:42And can you just clarify what's the goalkeeper situation at the moment?
10:46God.
10:48Yeah.
10:48So how many weeks have I been here?
10:50Three weeks?
10:51I think.
10:51Yeah.
10:52I think I've had three or four goalkeepers already, haven't I?
10:55Yeah.
10:55So yeah, listen, it's a situation we find ourselves in.
10:59I think you've had seven goalkeepers so far this season, been used, not yourself personally
11:03obviously, but the club as a whole.
11:05It's obviously not an ideal situation.
11:07Will that be obviously a priority when it comes to thinking about next year and the summer?
11:11Well I think sort of like January, listen I wasn't here.
11:14But I know we signed the goalkeeper from Brentford, who then got quite a bad injury early January
11:24so the window had shut.
11:28And then we're kind of left with obviously Jojo, Sandy's kind of just about coming back
11:34and not 100% fit yet.
11:37And obviously Jasper's a young goalkeeper who's not had any experience at all.
11:41So yeah, the goalkeeping department, through probably nobody's fault really, has been
11:47in a bad situation, especially when Jojo goes away on international.
11:53So yeah, it's just been one of them situations that I think from the injury from the goalkeeper
11:59we had from Brentford has probably not helped.
12:02I thought that maybe that could be the one that could play when Jojo wasn't available.
12:08Obviously he's got bad injuries so now we find ourselves in a position where if Jojo's hurt,
12:13which he is at the moment, we have to go and get another emergency loan to fill the space.
12:20Which obviously is not ideal because you're chopping and changing a lot.
12:27But listen, it is what it is.
12:29We're not going to moan about it.
12:30We've just got to try and find the best solution around it.
12:32We're not going to be able to do it.
12:33We're not going to be able to do it.
12:34We're not going to be able to do it.
12:35We're not going to be able to do it.
12:36We're not going to be able to do it.
12:37We're not going to be able to do it.
12:38We're not going to be able to do it.
12:39We're not going to be able to do it.
12:40We're not going to be able to do it.
12:41We're not going to be able to do it.
12:42We're not going to be able to do it.
12:43We're not going to be able to do it.
12:44We're not going to be able to do it.
12:45We're not going to be able to do it.
12:46We're not going to be able to do it.
12:47We're not going to be able to do it.
12:48We're not going to be able to do it.