Crawley Town v Carlisle United: Reds boss John Yems on why he hoped Blues got promoted last season, injuries and home form

The Blues finished tenth in League Two last season but Yems he thought they were one of the better teams they played.

The Reds host Chris Breech's side on Saturday at the People's Pension Stadium and Yems is expecting another tough afternoon.

He said: "We are looking forward to the game, it will be a tough game and Chris will no doubt have them fired up.

"We can't wait for Saturday to come.

"He [Chris Breech] has done a great job up there, they fell foul of Covid with the fixture pile up, a bit like we did, and I felt sorry for their fans. But from their point of view they deserved to go up.

"They were one of the better sides we played and we are expecting a tough game, just hope they don’t turn up too clever on Saturday."

And he added another reason why he had hoped they would get promoted. He said: "It’s a good club, and it’s a shame, I wanted them to go up because it saves us having to drive up there."

The Reds' injury list is still long with nine players carrying knocks. He is hoping some are on their way back but unlikely to be for this Saturday. They had good news last week with Tom Nichols returning to make his first start of the season at Bristol Rovers.

Yems said: "The difficulty is it’s not the injury that they are returning from. It’s the match time they can play.

"It’s like Tom [Nichols] last Saturday. He got 60 minutes then he had to come off. An extra 10 minutes and you could knock him back three months, so how is he going to get his fitness? By playing. How is he going to play if he’s not fit?

"We try and balance the training and game time up to share it but when you have nine to worry about it is frustrating. It's frustrating for me so I can imagine what it's like for the fans but everyone has got to stick with it."

The Reds are unbeaten at home in the league this season and Yems says they need to make the ground intimidating for the opposition.

He said: "When we first came in we went on a great run at home and carried it on a little bit last year. You have got to put your own game [at home] and what you get away from home is your bonus.

"It’s great to be at home with the fans because everyone appreciates what they do - especially on Saturday at Bristol Rovers. It makes a massive difference to have the fans here and the home form, you just have to make the place intimidating for opposition as much as you can."