Crawley Preview

After a superb away victory against Eastbourne in midweek, Boro return to Broadhall Way this weekend as Crawley make the trip around the M25. It’s a good opportunity for the team to pick up from where they left off on Tuesday night and put pressure on Oxford United at the top. Stevenage can actually go joint top of the Blue Square Premier if they win the game as the U’s are without a game this weekend. They next play on Tuesday night when Hayes & Yeading are the visitors to the Kassam Stadium.

Crawley are a good side and will be difficult to break down. The Red Devils went through the whole of February with a 100% record which included wins over Cambridge and Luton. However, that run ended when they drew 2-2 against Salisbury in mid-week, but other than that they are in pretty good nick at the moment. As always, Steve Evans has assembled a hard-working side and relies on a handful of experienced Conference campaigners. Players such as Adam Quinn, Eddie Hutchinson and Simon Rusk know what it takes to be successful at this level.

“They are a useful outfit, there is no question about it. They have some experienced players and some good quality players. It will be a tough ask for the lads to go and win again, but I am sure we are up to it. We are in good form. I don’t see them as a spoiling side at all. They do try and play and I’m sure there will be some very good football at the weekend.” Westley on what his side will face tomorrow

Boro’s opponents have a few injury worries ahead of the game. Captain Adam Quinn is their biggest doubt, while there are also concerns over Simon Rusk, Lewis Killeen and Ben Smith. Crawley have one of the smaller squad’s in the division, so if they are missing any of them players then they will be missed.

On the other hand, Boro are looking fairly strong. Even with a few knocks about, Graham Westley has the squad to withstand a few injuries. That was seen on Tuesday night. Mitchell Cole came off the bench to hit a 7 minute hat-trick and there’s no doubt that he will be in contention to start tomorrow afternoon. Stacy Long will also be pushing for a recall after impressing from the bench against Eastbourne. Andy Drury and Tim Sills could also be back in the squad as they overcome minor injuries.

“The pressure to win is all on Borough because they will still believe they can catch Oxford United at the top, I am not surprised they believe that because I certainly do and this is based on the quality of squad that Manager Graham Westley has put in place. Many may take the view that he has the resources to have done this but it takes much more than just money to put a squad like Graham has assembled at Broadhall Way, he deserves enormous credit.” Steve Evans’ view on tomorrow’s game

Last season’s fixture at Broadhall Way saw Boro held to a 1-1 draw. The game came very early in the season when Westley was still trying to find his feet in his second spell in charge. Stevenage won the reverse fixture last April winning 2-0 as they continued their assault on the play-offs. Goals from Michael Bostwick and Callum Willock were enough to give the Hertfordshire side all 3 points. Boro return to the Broadfield Stadium at the end of the month.

There’s no doubt that it will be a tough encounter against Crawley, but it’s another must win game as we look to close the gap at the top of the table. We need to be winning these sort of games and hope that Oxford can continue to slip up like they did on Tuesday night. We have the momentum with us at the moment and have been consistent for the majority of the campaign. I’m confident that if we can keep the gap to within 3 points until we play them at BHW then we have a huge chance of winning the Conference for the first time since 1996.

Prediction: Boro 2-0 Crawley Town