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  • 05/09/2023
Crawley Town beat Charlton Athletic 4-3 in an EFL Trophy thriller at the Broadfield Stadium. Goals from Harry Forster, Klaidi Lolos, Nick Tsaroulla and Raf Khaleel here is Scott Lindsey's reaction in full.
Transcript
00:00 Scott, a thrilling game here tonight, how do you sum that one up?
00:05 Really enjoyed it, I thought we were excellent.
00:08 I thought there was some brilliant football played tonight by ourselves.
00:14 They come with a strong team as well and I thought my young team tonight were brilliant,
00:20 I thought they were outstanding.
00:22 There are moments where we can do better defensively, which we've spoke about,
00:27 and we shouldn't have to win a game twice, which we've had two tonight,
00:33 if not three times.
00:35 But I'm really proud of my players tonight, they were outstanding.
00:39 Some great goals as well, but some real good passages of play
00:45 and intricate passing which we work on tirelessly on the training ground
00:50 and to see it come to light tonight with the team that haven't been playing as many minutes.
00:56 It's humbling and I'm really proud of the team.
01:00 It was a team that I think we worked out averaged age of 22 tonight.
01:03 Brilliant.
01:04 So you're very proud of that effort.
01:06 Brilliant.
01:07 You made three changes at half-time, was that tactical, was that pre-planned?
01:11 Pre-planned, yes. I wanted the guys who played in the first half
01:15 and the guys who came on at half-time to share the minutes.
01:18 So yes, it was pre-planned.
01:20 Did you feel it made a difference, or defensively?
01:24 No, I think what made a difference defensively was because I went mental at half-time.
01:31 I'll come for one or two and show them a clip from what happened in the first half
01:37 and said it's unacceptable.
01:39 We worked tirelessly on the training ground about defending the box
01:44 and I'm really detailed about how we defend the box, really detailed.
01:49 It's very, very clear and black and white.
01:51 It's not even difficult what I'm asking them to do.
01:54 It's very, very simple.
01:56 We switched off on one of the goals where we didn't do what I asked them to do regularly.
02:05 So I was very upset about that.
02:09 I feel sometimes the boys at the back have to give the players at the top of the pitch
02:15 more of a platform to win a game by doing their job properly.
02:20 They'll get better at it, I'm sure, because I know they're good lads.
02:23 They do listen to everything I say and they do hang off every word the coaches say.
02:29 We work extremely hard on the training ground and I'm sure they'll get better at it.
02:33 I know you mentioned the whole team, but particularly Clydie Lollos and Jack Rowles.
02:37 We thought were superb tonight. Just a comment on them?
02:39 Outstanding pair of them. Very, very good.
02:42 Very bright. Very good.
02:46 I was very impressed with the energy they showed.
02:50 They're disciplined to defend as well when we got the ball in terms of pressing at the top of the pitch.
02:58 I was pleased with them.
03:00 We saw Travis Johnson in a different role to what Crawley fans would have seen before.
03:04 Is that something you've picked up in training, that he could play in the future?
03:08 I think we've identified Jay Williams to take that role up and he's done it brilliantly.
03:18 He's somebody we identified in the summer and felt that he's a really good defender.
03:27 He knows how to mark in the box, he knows how to defend the box, but he's also a good footballer as well.
03:31 He kind of sits in that role really well.
03:34 We probably haven't got anybody else at the football club who can potentially do that role.
03:40 I know Travis can, because there's one thing Travis can do is defend.
03:44 He can play football for sure. He can handle the ball.
03:47 I thought he was good tonight. I thought he did it really, really well.
03:50 He marked really well in the box.
03:52 There were a couple of times where they tried to play it through.
03:55 He blocked his man on the halfway line. He just knows how to defend.
03:58 So, yeah, I think he can do that role.
04:00 And that gives you a few selection headaches for Saturday, does it, with the way they performed tonight?
04:04 Yeah, that's what we want.
04:06 I'm going to ask the referee on Saturday if we can play more players.
04:09 Because I've got so many good players now.
04:13 That's what I want. I want it to be a headache.
04:15 That's the manager's dream in many ways.
04:17 Excellent. Thanks, Scott.
04:18 Thank you.
04:20 Scott, you're back to winning ways now.
04:22 How key is it now to replicate the outcome of the game in the league against Newport on Saturday?
04:27 Very important.
04:29 We want to win every game we play.
04:31 It's important that we have a winning mentality, no matter how well we play.
04:34 Performances are key.
04:36 Performances are very key, especially when you're possession-based like we are.
04:39 It's important that we keep playing that way.
04:43 But results are the most important thing.
04:46 So, yeah, we're going to be organising the team to win the game on Saturday against a really good side.
04:55 You said previously, towards the start of the season and some games afterwards, about the finishing.
05:01 Four goals tonight, three goals on Saturday.
05:03 How satisfied are you that you're finishing the chances now and going forward you're really improving?
05:09 Yeah, really satisfying.
05:10 I think as well, Saturday especially, we didn't create loads.
05:16 But we were clinical in three moments, which was pleasing.
05:19 But we didn't actually create loads.
05:22 Our xG would have been quite low on Saturday, but we only scored three goals away from home.
05:26 So we'll take that.
05:29 Sometimes that kind of happens.
05:31 But tonight we were very aggressive at the top of the pitch.
05:36 Not just in the four moments we scored, but I thought we were aggressive at the top of the pitch throughout the night.
05:42 But, yeah, pleased, obviously, to be putting the ball over the line.
05:46 Because in the games that we've played, we've hit seven woodworks.
05:51 Posts and bars, we've hit.
05:54 Our xG, I think last week, was in the top six of the division.
05:59 So it's always a problem when you're not creating.
06:04 That's when we've got a problem.
06:06 But when you're creating and you're getting high numbers xG and you're hitting posts and bars, in a minute it's going to go in.
06:12 And tonight it did.
06:14 Despite...
06:16 Oh, I forgot I was going to ask that.
06:18 I'm sorry, never mind.

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