Scott Lindsey pulls no punches after Crawley Town thrashed by Worthing - 'They were hiding and not willing to run or work hard'

The Reds had a night to forget at Woodside Road with the scoreline compounded by concerning-looking injuries to Harry Ransom and Ade Adeyemo, whilst Travis Johnson was sent off for an off the ball incident.

Lindsey pulled no punches in his post-match interview, accusing some of his players of being ‘very poor’ and ‘ill disciplined’.

"We were losing the game 3-2 when we get a man sent off,” he said. “I’ve not seen it back so I don’t know what’s happened. Something has happened.

"That was always going to make things hard, then we conceded three goals. I’m really disappointed with the players.

"They have not shown any professionalism at all. They didn't prepare properly. Whilst they are not going to take their career seriously, then neither am I.

"I have been on the go since half past five this morning. I coached the first team. I worked all afternoon and came down to watch that this evening and watched players not willing to run, work hard, or to get on the ball. They were hiding.”

Lindsey said he knew ‘for a fact’ that there were ‘one or two players who didn't prepare properly’.

"They churn a performance out like that and they probably expect to be in the first team on Saturday, I don't know,” he said.

"It’s really disappointing.

"That performance, I'm not going to watch it back and break it down and debrief the team. It doesn't deserve my time on a Wednesday to do that for them on a Thursday.

"I've completely forgotten about it already and I'm now planning for Saturday for us to go and play a tough side [Crewe Alexandra] so I'm looking forward to that.”

The Crawley manager’s criticism for his player didn’t end there, though.

He added: “Some of these players desperately wanted to play in the first team and they knock at my door, telling me they should be next in line. Then they play like that. It's an easy argument for me really.

"Whilst we coach everybody and do individual stuff with players going through their clips, we coach the team, we prepared them the same way as we prepared the first team yesterday. I know for a fact some of the players didn't prepare properly.

"I'm really disappointed with that and they've got no excuse to knock at my door next time.

“It was unprofessionalism from them. Whether they think they just have to turn up or not, I don't know. They obviously haven't prepared mentally well or physically properly. We had a weekend off and gave players time away.”

Lindsey said he was ‘really sad and upset’ for Adeyemo, who had to be helped into the dugout at half-time after suffering an injury, after scoring his first two goals for the club.

"I'm very disappointed, obviously, about the injuries,” he said.

"Ade has got a bright future. We will probably now not see him for a while.

"He's great, he's fantastic. A proper player. We found him from the lower reaches of non league. Great kid with a great attitude.”