Tuesday night’s game against Stevenage feels like more of an afterthought following the news this week that Jodi Jones – directly involved in 45% of our league goals this season – has been ruled out for the season. That his exit from affairs against Stevenage coincided with the concession of a late goal to see us drop two points served as an omen of what might be to come over the coming weeks and months.
However, the season is far from over and the task for Mark Robins and the rest of the squad is to step up to the extra burden that comes from losing our best player. The two players who seem most capable of taking on Jones’ mantle are Duckens Nazon and Ryan Haynes, who are the only other players in the squad who appear capable of beating their man and carrying the ball into dangerous positions.
This may be the time now for Ryan Haynes to be pushed further forward, which would hopefully negate the temptation for Robins to shoehorn Nazon into a wide position where he’s less effective. There is also a need for the likes of Peter Vincenti, Marc McNulty and Maxime Biamou in attack to start providing a more tangible impact in the final third, while Jones’ injury should allow the likes of Jordan Shipley and Devon Kelly-Evans further opportunities to nail down a first-team place.
There are still plenty of options for Robins, it’s just about how he can mould them into a cohesive and effective attacking unit – of which we’ve arguably lacked despite having had Jones for most of the season until now.
Elsewhere, with the extent of the injuries to Liam Kelly and Jack Grimmer not fully known either, the tight defensive unit that we’ve built up is in danger of being broken up. Should Haynes be played further forward, it leaves us with a rather prosaic back four of three centre-backs and Chris Stokes, while Jordan Shipley, Ben Stevenson, or even Callum Maycock, aren’t exactly the experienced, calming presence in midfield that Kelly provides, although possibly offer more dynamism going on the ball.
All in all, it’s going to be an interesting starting XI.
Last Time We Met
The most recent meeting between the two sides came in a dull 1-0 Checkatrade Trophy win for us at the Ricoh last December with Marvin Sordell on the scoresheet during a rare occasion he was played as a striker rather than a winger.
Crawley though might have the meeting beforehand still on their minds, when goals from Frank Nouble and James Maddison turned around a 1-0 deficit on the final day of Tony Mowbray’s first season in charge, which kept us up and sent them down in the process.
Although, they have had a heavy squad turnover since that date, which may render any grievances moot.
How Are They Doing?
Crawley made the bold decision this summer to appoint Harry Kewell as manager. It wasn’t just the Australian international’s high profile playing career versus Crawley’s stature in the game that was odd about the appointment, Kewell’s only managerial experience had been a pretty disastrous spell with Watford’s reserve side which featured two defeats by seven goals.
A poor start to the season, featuring several heavy defeats, set expectations further lower, but Crawley have improved as the season has progressed, although they have been incredibly inconsistent over the past month or so. To sum things up for Kewell thus far, his side were thrashed 4-0 by Wycombe on Saturday, before improving to beat Exeter 3-1 on Tuesday.
Crawley’s main threat is based on the pace throughout the side, with wingers Enzio Boldewijn and Jordan Roberts their chief attacking players. Boldewijn is a rare example of a fancy Dan foreign player who has thrived at this level, although fairly inconsistent, he is up there with one of the best attackers at this level when he’s on form. Jordan Roberts was reportedly lined up by Peterborough as a replacement for their star player Marcus Maddison, who had been linked with a move away over the summer, and is versatile enough to play as both a winger and auxiliary forward. Attacking full-back Cedric Evina further adds to the pace in Crawley’s ranks.
While Crawley can be a fairly flighty and flaky side at times, they do possess a level of grit in their ranks in the form of Jimmy Smith and Dannie Bulman in midfield and defender Mark Connolly. Smith is enjoying a particularly productive season having been given more attacking responsibilities by Kewell, he has four goals and three assists to his name already – although he has been out with injury recently. Dannie Bulman is a vastly experienced campaigner in central midfield, while Connolly is a determined and versatile centre-back who can also fill in at right-back.
A potential joker in Harry Kewell’s pack is Dutch centre-forward Thomas Verheydt. Standing at over six foot three and weighing in at around 14 and a half stone, Verheydt has the attributes to be a real nightmare for our defence to contain, although he has struggled to get into Crawley’s starting XI on a consistent basis.
They also have former Leyton Orient star Dean Cox in their ranks, although he has confusingly been frozen out of the mix over the past couple of months – something that’s happened rather too often for him over the past few seasons.
Prediction
It’s worth noting heading into this game that Crawley’s away form – although hardly the most impressive in the division – has been where they’ve been stronger this season. If they can stick to a game-plan, they have the pace on the counter to really put our often ponderous style of football to the sword.
While we need collective improvements to overcome the loss of Jodi Jones, someone coming out in this game and accepting the responsibility to be our main man could be a real shot in the arm given the anxiety losing Jones will inevitably cause. Starting this game with intent and getting on the scoresheet could go a long way here.
Given what I’ve seen from this team this season, even with Jones in the side, I can see this being a 0-0 draw.
Sideways Sammy 