New Crawley Town signing Harry Ransom: The play-offs have to be the target for the Reds

The 21-year-old centre-half officially joined the Reds on July 1 following his release from Millwall earlier this summer.

The 2020-21 campaign saw Crawley briefly flirt with the play-offs, occupying the final play-off spot after their 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers on January 2.

But injuries and an incredibly condensed fixture list, due to several postponements, saw the Reds falter.

Crawley eventually finished in a respectable 12th position in League Two taking 61 points from 46 games.

Ransom was very pleased to sign on at The People’s Pension Stadium, and has targeted a place in the league’s top seven for the Reds next season.

He said: “I’m delighted. I’m really excited to get going.

“It’s been a really good two weeks getting to know the boys. I’ve settled in really nicely

“I think the play-offs have to be the target. When I spoke to the gaffer (John Yems) he said that they just fell away towards the end of last season, but on their day they were beating anyone.

“The squad he’s building here is a small group but everyone’s going to be fighting for each other.

“All of us, collectively, are looking at pushing on and trying to get in those play-offs.”

Ransom was sent out on loan to National League outfit Dover Athletic by Millwall in October of last season.

The young defender scored once in eight league appearances for the Whites before trouble befell the club.

The Kent outfit only played 15 fixtures in 2020-21. No Dover games were played after January 30 due to players and staff being furloughed because of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

As a consequence, the Whites had all their results expunged in March and were handed a £40,000 fine by the National League.

Dover were handed a 12 point deduction for the upcoming campaign and currently only have four players on their books after becoming a semi-professional outfit in May.

Ransom described his time at Dover as ‘bizarre’ but said he had enjoyed his stint at the Crabble.

His time in Kent had given him a taste for first team football, and now he was determined to kick on for Crawley this season.

Ransom added: “It was very bizarre to be fair. When I went on loan there, within a couple of weeks one of our players caught Covid and had to isolate.

“We had to have two weeks off, and then we went back for a couple of weeks and another player got it so we had another two weeks off.

“It was all a bizarre experience where I was playing games not very regularly.

“It got to the point where they had no money left, so I was sent back to Millwall and that was it really.

“I played 14 or 15 games with Dover and then went back and played with the under-23s for the rest of the season.

“I was really enjoying playing at Dover and it was nice to play proper men’s football. It was a shame.

“I got the taste for it but it wasn’t enough so hopefully this year I can properly have a go.

“I just want to play some games. This is my year where I need to properly knuckle down and get some games under my belt.

“I’m only 21 but in football terms you’re not a youngster any more.

“I just want to play some games and get some good experience playing alongside the boys.”

The defender donned a Reds jersey for the first time in their 3-0 friendly win at Walton Casuals last Tuesday.

Ransom has been thoroughly enjoying pre-season and was champing at the bit to get going in the league.

He said: “Pre-season has been really good. It was nice to get going quite early on because usually you have a bit of time before your first game.

“It kind of gives you that taste of what it’d be like to be playing with all the lads.

“Roll on the beginning of the season!”