Swindon Town return to League Two action at The County Ground on Saturday, with former boss Scott Lindsey’s Crawley Town side the visitors to SN1.
The Robins, who picked up a point in their opening EFL Trophy fixture against Arsenal U21s on Tuesday, will be looking to return to winning ways after a frustrating late draw at Wrexham last weekend.
A lowdown on the visitors
Founded in 1896 as Crawley Football Club, Crawley Town helped to form the West Sussex League in its early years, before also playing in the Brighton, Hove & District League, and the Metropolitan League.
Crawley won promotion to the Conference as champions of the Southern League in 2004, and only turned professional a year later in 2005. After a financial scare, the club avoided administration and appointed Steve Evans as manager, in May 2007.
In 2011, Evans led the Red Devils to the Football League for the first time in the club’s history. In their first League Two campaign, Crawley remarkably secured a successive promotion - finishing third to book a place in League One the following season.
Crawley spent three seasons in England’s third tier, before a 22nd-place finish saw them fall back into League Two in 2015.
Last time out
On the final day of the 2022/23 season, it was Town who secured all three points at home to this weekend’s visitors.
Two strikes in the space of two minutes from Charlie Austin and Jake Cain on the brink of half-time were enough to seal victory, despite Dom Telford’s second-half penalty.
Head-to-head
22/23: Swindon Town 2-1 Crawley Town
22/23: Crawley Town 2-0 Swindon Town
21/22: Crawley Town 3-1 Swindon Town
21/22: Swindon Town 1-1 Crawley Town
19/20: Crawley Town 0-4 Swindon Town
The manager: Scott Lindsey
Former Town manager Scott Lindsey, who departed for Crawley in January this year, will this weekend return to the County Ground for the second time since his exit.
Lindsey - who had previously been Town’s Under-18s manager, and assistant to first-team manager Ben Garner - will take confidence from the start his team have made in League Two so far this term; Crawley currently sit seventh, having picked up wins against Bradford City and MK Dons, along with a draw at Salford City.
One to watch: Danilo Orsi
Crawley striker Danilo Orsi, who arrived in June from Grimsby Town, grabbed his first League Two goal for the Red Devils in last week’s win over MK Dons and has started every league fixture so far.
The 27-year-old, who has had spells at Harrogate Town, Boreham Wood and Maidenhead United, was a part of the Grimsby Town side who last season reached the FA Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1939.
Orsi’s most prolific scoring campaign to date came three years ago when he notched 19 goals in 39 National League appearances for Maidenhead United.
