Crawley Town manager Rob Elliot has called for bravery from his side when they visit Bristol Rovers this weekend with the new Red Devils boss labelling the Mem as a tough place to go.
It’s been an eventful reintroduction to life back in League One for the Sussex outfit who are playing third tier football for the first time since 2015 after their League Two play-off victory last season.
Previous manager Scott Lindsay, who led the Reds to promotion, departed in September for League Two side MK Dons with former Gateshead manager and Newcastle United goalkeeper Elliot taking over at the Broadfield Stadium.
Crawley currently occupy the final relegation spot with 12 points from 15 matches, however they recently recorded impressive home results over Huddersfield Town and Lincoln City, drawing 2-2 and winning 3-0 respectively.
Like Rovers, the Red Devils have picked up just four points on the road so far this season and Elliot has admitted he wants to see more from his team away from home while expecting a brilliant atmosphere in BS7.
“It’s going to be a tough game, it’s a brilliant atmosphere down there,” the Crawley manager declared, as quoted by Sussex World. “They’re a very good team, very robust, very physical but also can play.
“I think the challenge for us is to go to these places now with the confidence we’ve built in the last few games and make sure we have that mentality to know to get any points away from home at this level is tough.
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“We need to go there and really imprint ourselves on the game in terms of our mentality and our bravery on the ball but also our bravery out of possession, keeping a good line, be more aggressive higher up, and just keep improving the things we’ve improved on.
“We need to get better from set pieces, because at this level it is such a big thing, but what has been good is our defensive line and shape from in-play is getting better and better, and we need to make sure we not only continue with that but get more aggressive with it.”
On the Mem itself, the 38-year-old added: “It has a really good atmosphere, when it gets going it gets going well, it’s a big club supported well. I played there a few times and it is always a really good place to play.
“On the flip side is that these are the games you want to go to. The step up in going to some of the away grounds you go to is big crowds, big clubs, good atmospheres and I think the lads thrive on that.
“I want us to go there and attack the game, make sure when the game finishes after 90 minutes we’ve given absolutely everything.”