The third of our run of home games brings mid-table Crawley to Brunton Park on Tuesday night.
The full force of reality TV hit Crawley earlier this season when Towie star Mark Wright resurrected his football career when he signed for the Red Devils.
His first start didn't come until last month, a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Harrogate, but that result was typical of the run they were on that time, with wins hard to come by through a sticky period.
A good FA Cup run had been ended by Bournemouth at the fourth round stage, and that allowed manager John Yems to concentrate on the needs of his squad.
Midfielder Josh Wright joined brother Mark following his release from Orient, and James Tilley headed down the road after he had been released by Grimsby.
Winger Jordan Maguire-Drew was loaned from Orient, and the non-league circuit was raided when forward Davide Rodari was snapped up from Hastings United.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Crawley wins | |
| League | 9 | 6 | 2 |
| Total | 9 | 6 | 2 |
The Red Devils are currently six points off the play-off places and come into this fixture off the back of back-to-back defeats.
Saturday's home reverse at the hands of Port Vale was particularly annoying after former-Blue Ashley Nadesan had levelled the scores on the stroke of half time. The rejuvenated Valiants went on to win comfortably as they bagged two more after the break.
Crawley enjoyed a four-game unbeaten run in the middle of this month as they sent out the message that the play-offs were still a target, but wins have been just as likely as defeats in 2021 with consistency being their main problem and cause of frustration.
Forward Tom Nichols has returned to form recently with four goals from his last eight games.
He's another very mobile attack-minded player who links things up as he makes things hard for the opposition back line.
His assist tally of 10 is impressive, as is his overall goal haul of 15 so far.
One who can score from inside or outside of the area, he's our one to watch on Tuesday night.
Having said that, let's not forget Ashley Nadesan. We saw first-hand how good he is at turning 40:60 situations in his favour.
And, if selected, he's bound to want to do well at a club where he enjoyed decent loan spells.
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United's trip to Crawley in November 2020 proved to be productive as a goal just before the break from Rhys Bennett provided a springboard. Josh Kayode and Aaron Hayden made it 3-0, and a bad day became worse for the Red Devils when David Sesay received late marching orders.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
These sides came together down in Crawley just before the lockdown, in February 2020. It was a tight, tense 0-0 draw, with both teams missing chances to snatch it.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Priot to that the Red Devils headed to Brunton Park for the opening game of the 2019/20 season. Harry McKirdy opened the scoring with just six minutes on the clock, but the Reds were back on terms just 10 minutes later when Beryly Lubala pounced. The lead was restored just before half time by Stefan Scougall, and that's how it stayed with the hosts holding on to take the three points. A feisty encounter saw Luke Young sent off in time added on.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Carlisle United 4 – 2 Crawley Town, 27 April 2019
Crawley Town 2 – 3 Carlisle United, 22 December 2018
Carlisle United 2 – 2 Crawley Town, 17 March 2018
Crawley Town 0 – 1 Carlisle United, 30 September 2017
Referee - Robert Lewis
Assistant Referee 1 - David Avent
Assistant Referee 2 - Daniel Woodward
Fourth Official - Gary Hilton
Observer - Michael Pike
The referee for this game is Mr Robert Lewis. Robert has taken charge of 25 games so far this season, showing 69 yellow cards and four reds.
We had Rob in December 2020 for our 4-0 home win over Stevenage. Nick Anderton, Lewis Alessandra, Josh Kayode and Joe Riley scored our goals, and Luke Prosser was sent off for the visitors when he picked up his second booking with 15 minutes left to play.
Mr Lewis was our referee for the January 2020 trip to Boundary Park where a goal from Byron Webster earned the Blues a 1-1 draw. Aaron Hayden was the only away name taken on the day.
He was the man in the middle here at Brunton Park in January 2019 when we beat Mansfield 3-2. Hallam Hope [2] and Jack Sowerby bagged our goals, with Matt Preston and Tyler Walker notching for the Stags. Neal Bishop was dismissed as he walked down the tunnel at half time in what was a feisty encounter.
We saw him prior to that when he was at Brunton Park for our 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lincoln towards the end of the 2017/18 season. Matt Green scored what turned out to be the winner just before the break, and Tom Parkes and Jamie Devitt had their names taken in what was a feisty encounter.
A busy day for the referee was capped off in time added on when he showed Mike Jones a red card for a second rash challenge.
He was also the man in the middle for our trip to Grimsby earlier that season. Clint Hill scored the winner with 20 minutes left to play and there were no cards shown at all on the day.
This is a behind closed doors fixture.
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