Crawley Town can make people 'stand up and take notice' with opening day win

Crawley Town's Glenn Morris punches the ball away against Portsmouth on Saturday. Picture by Joe Pepler

Goalkeeper Morris, off the back of a personally fantastic season, insists the tough opening game can be a great opportunity to make people ‘stand up and take notice’, with Brunton Park proving an unhappy hunting ground for the Reds in recent years.

Morris and Crawley will be looking to improve on last season’s 19th-placed finish in League Two, and Crawley’s number one revealed he is feeling ‘very positive’ ahead of the new campaign.

Discussing the opening day trip to Carlisle on August 3, Morris said: “I would imagine that not many people will think that we’re going to go there and win, so if we can do that it might cause a few people to stand up and take notice.

“But we’re not too bothered about all that. We’ve just got to go about our business and do what we need to do. All that will come as the season goes on.”

He continued: “I’m confident. We know we slightly underachieved last year, but the main thing was it wasn’t a disaster and we weren’t dragged down into the bottom two or three.

“Obviously we need to do better, but looking at how training is going and how everything seems to be forming, along with the squad we’ve got, I’m very positive going into the season.”

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While every team will be going into the new season hoping for success, a realistic approach is an important place to start according to the 35-year-old keeper.

He said: “I think that’s been the message, get to 50 points and see where we go. For me, you want to look at getting promoted or play-offs, but really it is right, we have to get to 50 points as soon as possible and then look forward from there.

“Once we hit that mark we can start making aims. It would obviously be lovely to have a play-off position or promotion come the end of the season, but first and foremost, it is safety first.”

Morris is really hoping to reward the Crawley fans for their continued support throughout his time at the club with an exciting season, admitting that it would be great to give them ‘a little bit more to cheer about.’