Crawley head coach relishing Stags test

Evans, appointed to the One Call Stadium hot seat following Adam Murray’s departure on Monday, oversaw successive promotions during his five years with Crawley between 2007-2012 before going on to achieve further promotions at Rotherham United.

And Crawley head coach Dermot Drummy, who previously had charge of Chelsea under-19s, is relishing the prospect of competing against one of his predecessors when the Reds visit Nottinghamshire on Saturday.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to the Mansfield game.

“It will be a great opportunity to pit my wits with Steve Evans who is a really experienced manager who was very successful at Crawley.

“It will be a tough game, but they’re all tough games in this division.

“I think they will be dangerous with their set-plays and we’ve got to take our game to Mansfield.”

Crawley go into the game without a win from eight matches in all competitions, having lost to Cambridge United 3-1 last Saturday and 4-2 to League One club Bristol Rovers away in their FA Cup First Round replay on Tuesday night.

Drummy will be without the injured Joe McNerney (knee), while Stags loanee Adi Yussuf won’t be available due to the terms of the loan and recent signing Sanchez Watt is awaiting international clearance.

There is better news for Mark Connolly and Matt Harrold who are both expected to return from injury. Defender Andre Blackman returns from suspension and Josh Yorwerth is available for selection having been recalled from a loan spell with Welsh club Merthyr Town.