Crawley Town assistant boss Lewis Young praises Mansfield Town after defeat completes a nightmare 24 hours for the Red Devils

Young was left in charge after manager John Yews was last night suspended by the club over allegations of “serious and credible accusations” that he used discriminatory language and behaviour towards his players.

“You have to give credit to Mansfield,” he said.

“I thought they were really good on the day. They were the much better team for long periods.

“They really put us under pressure in areas we haven't had for a while. Fair play to them.

“They are going great guns and are right up there in that lottery of the play-offs and that's where we want to strive to be.

“They've done a job on us today and played very well.

“It just shows how far we've come as a club and as a group that we've come to Mansfield away and are disappointed not to get anything.”

On the managerial situation, he said: “It's been a long 24 hour period for the boys and staff.

“As crazy as it sounds after a 2-0 loss I have great pride in the group, just sticking together and going out there trying their best. That's all we ask.

“It was disappointing to see the run come to an end as we've been really decent in recent games. Five wins out of six doesn't just happen by chance.

“Even with 10 men neat the end we still had the composure and quality at times to play and create chances. It just shows the character in the group.”

He added: “It's disappointing that mini run of three wins on the bounce has come to an end but that doesn't mean we don't try to win the last three on the bounce.

“We now have to dust ourselves down as we go into a local derby on Tuesday.

“We are one point away from last season and should have massive pride in that.

“The season is not over yet. We have three games to go and we're still building.”