Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey after his side beat Blackpool
Crawley Town beat Blackpool 2-1 at the Broadfield Stadium in their League One season opener. Here is Scott Lindsey's full post match press conference
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00:00Scott, thank you for joining us. What a start to life in League One, probably two black for one here at the Broadfield Stadium. Can I get your thoughts on the game first?
00:07Yeah, I was really pleased with the way we played, certainly in the first half. I thought there were some really good actions.
00:14I thought that we had the control that I wanted in the game against a good side. I thought we pressed really well.
00:23Coming in at half-time, I was really pleased. I felt that we probably sat a little deeper in the second half, but that's normal.
00:33You're trying to hang on to the lead and you become a little bit deeper as a team and we didn't get as much control.
00:39I still think there was really good passages of play in the second half. I think we used the ball really well and efficiently at times,
00:47but I want to have more control than we did in that second half. I felt we just became a little bit deeper.
00:53Like I say, it's normal, especially with a new group. It's normal, they want to hang on to what we've got and we became a little bit deeper.
01:01We defended our box. What was pleasing was how resilient we were towards the end. We gifted them a goal.
01:09They didn't score, well they did, but we gave them it. I thought we were really resilient.
01:16They flung a hell of a lot of balls in our box towards the end there and we were brilliant.
01:20I'd love to pick out a few players to talk about. I actually don't know where I'd start to that.
01:24I think all 11 players were absolutely outstanding. As you said, a lot of new players on the pitch.
01:28Everybody in their own role put an absolute shift in, didn't they?
01:31It just goes to show that when we coach the team, there's a lot of detail that goes in.
01:36I'm mindful that sometimes we could give them too much information and we don't want it to become confusing for them.
01:43We want it to be really clear. My message to the players is to be really clear with what I'm telling them to do.
01:51I don't want to confuse them, but they've taken that information on in the six weeks that I've had them really, really well.
02:00They've executed it really well today.
02:02Was that part of the game plan, taking it to Blackpool right from the off? I suppose it always is with us.
02:07We know how much we like to attack, but it almost looked like we caught them off guard a little bit.
02:11Too early goals put us in good stead, didn't they?
02:13Come on, Sam. You've been with me how long now? Two years now. You know we're never going to park the bus.
02:18We're always going to step forward and play in an aggressive manner.
02:22That will never change no matter who we're playing. Birmingham City away, Blackpool at home.
02:26It doesn't make a jot of difference. We will always play in that manner.
02:30I thought we got our press correct. I thought we were really good in terms of stealing balls.
02:38I thought it was a good performance.
02:41The two holding midfield players, those who came off the bench, they played a crucial role.
02:45Max Anderson, as we've said in previous games, he was thrown in straight away and played a massive part in that first goal.
02:51How impressed were you with the midfield today?
02:54Very much so, yes. I thought Jay drove us on and Max was outstanding today.
02:59I felt that I needed to get Bragg on the pitch a little bit, certainly because at the time we didn't seem to have any control in the game.
03:12I know Bragg likes to get on the ball and dictate play a little bit more than probably the other two.
03:20It was pleasing to see Bragg make his league debut today.
03:25Max was fantastic. Normally I wouldn't have taken him off, but I felt the game had gone a little bit where I wanted to grab that control a bit more.
03:33Max had to come off for Bragg, but I thought it worked.
03:37Great options off the bench today as well. Jack Rowe was coming on towards the end, but the others as well.
03:43Good to see Pinochet get some minutes for us after he reached on. Especially in that area, we're looking quite good in depth.
03:50Yes, we've got good options there with the players that we put on the pitch today.
03:55I thought they all had a real impact. There looked to be some tired legs towards the end there because the players had put such a big shift in.
04:04It was important that we freshened that up in certain areas just to keep that freshness about us in terms of how we press.
04:11It's difficult to ask Roushinet Burn-Murphy to press for 90 minutes the way he does. It's difficult for us to ask him to do that.
04:20Even Darcy, who's like a Duracell bunny, he kind of ran out of steam towards the end and felt his ankle a little bit, so we had to be cautious with that.
04:29Scott Malone was literally on his knees at the end there, but we'd made all the changes by then. I thought the subs made a real impact.
04:37It was great to be back at home on opening day, great to be back winning at home on opening day. The atmosphere was brilliant today, wasn't it?
04:42The atmosphere was class. I really enjoyed coming out to show my appreciation to the fans, which they did.
04:48Obviously back to me, it was great. I think that the fans can see that we've got a real competitive team there.
04:57I think Blackpool are a good side. They finished three points outside the playoffs last season, so that's a good benchmark for us.
05:06What was the most pleasing element of today's victory for you, Scott?
05:10Just the way I felt that we controlled that first half. I thought we were dominant with possession.
05:15You go into that first game kind of not knowing, especially with a new group. We've got a lot of new players who've played today.
05:26You go into the game, even though you've done the work on the training ground, you're not sure how that first game is going to pan out.
05:35But 25 minutes in, I was looking around to the staff going, we're going to be all right. We look really accomplished and I thought we were very good in that first half.
05:44Again, we don't want to single out players because they're all outstanding, but Josh Flint I thought was particularly impressive today.
05:50What qualities has he got that's going to help you through the season?
05:53The reason we signed him is because he's very, very comfortable on the ball, but I think we saw today a proper defender.
05:58He was so aggressive in his aerial challenges and he was aggressive defensively. I thought he defended the box so, so well.
06:07I don't know how many headers he headed out of that box. Certainly towards the end of the game, I thought he was brilliant.
06:13We didn't sign him for that. We signed him because of his ability to step in and play and make passes.
06:18He's a very, very accomplished footballer, but we always felt that we could improve him as a defender.
06:24But going on today's performance, there's not much to improve on that side of things. So I'm really pleased with Flint.
06:31Joy and Jay, last year we were talking about how they just stepped up to League Two after being a few steps down in the National League.
06:40Now they're in League One and they took to it like a duck to water, didn't they?
06:44They were both class today, wasn't they? I was really pleased with their performances.
06:47I thought Joy looked really accomplished on the ball, calm, aggressive on the defending.
06:52And Jay's just levels at the moment, just levels above. I think he's just such a good player, such a good...
06:59He's 23 years of age leading the team out, captain's armband, absolute warrior, winner.
07:06To have players like that on the pitch, it can only help us.
07:10And obviously it is only a start. Where can you improve from here?
07:14There's loads that I looked at that I wasn't happy with, don't get me wrong.
07:18There's loads that I felt that what I call the rest defence was not quite right.
07:26When we've got possession high up the pitch, our back line wasn't right.
07:30So there's certain things that we need to work on there.
07:33I felt that we could have probably asked more questions of the goalkeeper in certain moments.
07:39I don't think we probably tested him as much as I'd like, but can't complain.
07:43We're a new group, there's lots to work on.
07:46So, yeah, it's a great start, positive start.
07:51And just a quick update on Dion, what's the latest?
07:54Dion's got a little ankle injury in the last pre-season game at Ebbsfleet.
08:01He's going to be probably two to three weeks away.
08:05Excellent, thanks Scott.
08:09I remember last season, fairly early on, you said that the group,
08:15I remember you telling us how quickly they gelled with you and it was almost better than you felt.
08:25Obviously you won today, what are your indications for this group?
08:30Do you feel that they were jealous?
08:33Well I think the indications are today's performance and result.
08:37I think it was clear to see that we're more than capable of playing at this level with the players that we've got.
08:42They're more than capable of winning at this level.
08:44We've played against a really good side today, I think they're a good side.
08:47I think they're going to be up and around it, I would think.
08:50There were three points off the play-offs last season, they've strengthened as well.
08:55So their manager, Neil, will probably think that they're better than they were last year.
09:03So it's a good benchmark for us.
09:05Now we can always measure where we think we are by that performance.
09:12Listen, it's not always going to be that good.
09:17We're hopeful that it is, but football isn't always plain sailing.
09:21There'll be peaks and troughs and there'll be ups and downs and there'll be times when we don't perform very well.
09:27But listen, it's a really good start.
09:30When you look at the crowd and you hear the reception, it's really not that long ago that you kept them up with that point against Walsall.
09:39And here they are in League One.
09:41And sometimes you have to pinch yourself, really, to realise that.
09:46Yeah, you do.
09:48But I know the work that's gone in and I would expect with the amount of work that's gone in that we should be in League One.
09:55That's how I see it.
09:58Not just from me, from everybody.
10:00The coaching staff, the players, the people behind the scenes, the owners.
10:04Everybody that works behind the scenes deserves a lot of credit for where we are now.
10:10You don't work that hard and not get lucky.
10:17It's a great achievement.
10:19Last year was a great achievement getting into this division.
10:22Listen, we spoke on Thursday about we're everyone's favourites to go down again.
10:32Fantastic.
10:33Let them say what they want.
10:34Yeah, it's great.