'Desire and a mindset' - Crawley Town boss on becoming harder to score against as they prepare for Accrington Stanley

The Reds coach was disappointed with the goals they conceded in the 3-2 win which secured a home tie in the knockout stages of the competition. After the game he said: ““Really pleased with the result I think it’s important we had that winning mentality throughout the group. I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded I thought we were a bit soft in the first half we spoke about that at half.”

He also added: “We want to come away winning games and having clean sheets and at the moment we’re a little bit to nice.”

But Lindsey doesn’t believe there is anything technically wrong with his side when it comes to defending, it’s just ‘a desire and a mindset’.

And this week in preparation for Accrington Stanley’s visit to the Broadfield Stadium, he has had a focus on defending while not ignoring the other elements of his side.

He told us: “From a coaching point of view there is always something to work on or improve on. If we spent the next two weeks talking about defending and coaching the team to defend more resiliently, more aggressively, then probably our attacking prowess would suffer and our possession would suffer.

SEE ALSO Crawley Town 3, Aston Villa u21s 2: Adeyemo and Roles star as Reds beat Aston Villa to qualify for knockout stage of EFL Trophy | Crawley Town player ratings: 9/10 for attacking stars while midfielders get 8/10s | Crawley Town boss has 'to make a decision' on his goalkeepers after cup performances | 'We're a little bit to nice' - Crawley Town boss pleased to get through in EFL Trophy after Aston Villa win, but disappointed with 'soft' goals

"You are constantly going round and round in a circle making sure cover you are covering all bases making sure we defend, attack and hold possession properly. That’s my job to make sure there is a balance of when we are doing what and how long.”

But he added that the onus is on the players when it comes to the match situation. “the players have got to want to defend well,” he said. “I think we run up the pitch aggressively, we press aggressively but I do believe there has not been an intensity when the ball goes behind our initial press. I think we can run harder to get back to our slots quicker and become a little more solid.

“In possession we are expansive and we use the whole pitch but it’s in that turnover possession that we need to run south quicker. That is a desire, that’s nothing to do with ability or anything else. If you can run harder that way, then what’s stopping you running hard the other way, there's no slope on the pitch. It’s just a desire and a mindset.”

And when asked if he had to decide between a 2-0 win and 4-3 win on Saturday, which one would he pick? He said without hesitation: “2-0.”

The Reds are looking for their first league win since September 30 when they beat Sutton 3-0 – which was also their last clean sheet.