Crawley Town v Crewe Alex 25-26 Preview - Cursed

When Crewe Alex and Crawley Town headed to Wembley at the end of the 23-24 season for the L2 play-off final, both sides must have felt confident that better days were ahead, regardless of which team won and got promoted and which team didn't and remained in L2. Well, little did we know that that game would be the high water mark for both teams in recent years.

Crawley saw their squad decimated, their manager poached and they managed just 1 season in L1 before coming back down. They are now struggling at the wrong end of L2. The Alex also saw key players picked off and they haven't returned to the play-offs/top 7 since. Both sides will be hoping better days are on the horizon, but that feels optimistic at this point. Here is my preview of yet another trip south for the Alex:

Getting the band back together

Talking of 23-24, it's funny to watch Crawley desperately try and reassemble the group that got them promoted that season in the hopes that it'll turn around their fortunes. Scott Lindsey is back as manager after a short spell at MK Dons and on the pitch, they've brought back Ronan Darcy, Jay Williams, Kellan Gordon, Danilo Orsi and Klaidi Lolos from that team to try and recapture the former magic.

It's seemingly worked, as their form has improved of late, with 7 points from their last 3 games. Ok, 6 were against poor sides in Barrow and Harrogate, but they managed a creditable point at Walsall in the middle of those games as well. So they are showing signs that they might just be turning a corner.

Clean Sheets

I have bad news Crewe fans. Lindsey has finally realised just what a poor keeper Harvey Davies is. He was dropped from the starting XI for the game at Barrow and since then, they haven't conceded a goal, with new keeper Jacob Chapman now boasting 3 straight clean sheets. What's more, they've given up an average of around 0.60 xG against in those 3 games. It seems they've finally found their feet defensively, which is bad timing for the Alex.

Rested v Tired

I know, it's a point I make every time, but it's a factor, so how can I not? Crawley's players were sat at home on Tuesday with their feet up resting. Meanwhile the Alex were making the long trek down to Barnet, not returning to Crewe until the early hours of the morning on Wednesday.

This is their toughest stretch of the season by far. Notts County away, Bromley away, Colchester at home, Barnet away and now Crawley away. There isn't another run as bad as this in terms of away games and distances travelled in such a short space of time. It's fair to ask how much energy they have left in the tank for this game after a gruelling 2 week period, especially given Crawley weren't in action on Tuesday.

Good Record

But all that being said, the Alex love playing Crawley. They have lost just 4 times against the Red Devils in 22 meetings. Their last 3 visits to Broadfield Stadium have yielded 2 wins and a draw, with their last non-playoff defeat being way back in 2018. Something about playing in this stadium brings out the best in the Alex and after 5 points from their last 3 games, hopefully there is a bit of confidence flowing through the Alex's ranks.

The time is now

It's nothing to shout about, but the Alex have put together a little 3 game unbeaten run since their poor display at Notts County 2 weeks ago. Points away at Bromley and Barnet and a win against Colchester sandwiched in the middle have kept the points ticking over.

The reality of their situation is tough though. They have 16 games left to go. Everyone around them has 17 or 18. They are 5 points off Walsall in 7th and the chasing pack around them are dangerous. They need wins. 9 of their next 11 are against sides currently in the bottom half. If they are going to go on a run and if they want to make the play-offs, now is the time to do it.

Ref Watch

Ben Speedie

Speedie's last Crewe wasn't a great one. He was the ref for the home game with Fleetwood where Shilow Tracey broke his leg. He can't be any worse than Peter Wright on Tuesday, who was shocking.

2025-26 Record: 26 games(5 Championship, 10 League One, 5 League Two, 2 FA Cup, 2 EFL Cup, 1 EFL Trophy, 1 National League), 76 yellows, 4 reds

Last Game: Mansfield Town 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers, EFL League One, 31st January 2026, 1 yellow

Crewe Alex Record: 2-1-4, 14 yellows, 1 red

Injuries/Absences

Crawley Town

Crawley welcome back Klaidi Lolos after 3 game ban. But so bloated is their squad that it's hard to know who is missing due to injury and who is just not being selected. For example, they have a ridiculous 8 loanees on the books but 3 were missing from last week's game against Harrogate. God knows what their injury situation looks like to be honest.

Crewe Alex

We could be about to see Omar Bogle back, but the rest of their short term injured players are all still absent in Max Sanders, Emre Tezgel, Jack Lankester, with all seemingly targeting returns around the end of the month as best.

Team

Hopefully they can welcome Demetriou back at CB after resting him in midweek. The rest of the back 4 should stay the same. I'd stick with the same 2 in midfield as I doubt Conor Thomas is fit to start just yet.

Upfront it'll be more mix and match I suspect, but I'd imagine March will move back up top and Holicek will return in the number 10 role. Agius and O'Reilly will surely start out wide as they have little else in the way of changes.

Score Prediction

I'm worried, because I'm actually starting to feel upbeat and positive about the Alex's prospects from here on out. Look, the play-offs are still a long shot and as I said above, it'll take a fair wind injury and form wise to make up the ground to 7th. But after 5 points from their last 9, maybe we can dare to dream. That usually means getting stomped all over, but I'm going to keep the wave of positivity going and say the Alex can snatch a win here.

Crawley Town 1-2 Crewe Alexandra