'People will react in the way they see fit' - Crawley Town boss Kevin Betsy responds to supporters' criticism and believes he and the players can turn form around to start climbing League Two table

The Reds fell to their heaviest defeat on the season on Saturday when they lost 4-1 to Doncaster Rovers. The loss saw them drop to 22nd in the League Two table, just one point above relegation.

In his post-match interview he said this was their lowest point, but today (Monday) he told the Crawley Observer he has full confidence that he and the team – with the help of the supporters – can climb up the table to ‘where we should be’.

Some supporters have been actively petitioning owners WAGMI United on social media to make a management change and have used the hashtag #betsyout.

The 44-year-old former Arsenal u23s coach understands the frustration of the fans but he believes they can turn it around and asked for them to be patient.

He said: “As a football manager the buck will stop with me at the end of the day. There were some supporters who were asking for me to be let go after the AFC Wimbledon game then a few days later we put in a fantastic performance against Fulham. Football can change really quickly and I totally respect everyone’s opinions and thoughts. Results aren’t what we want them to be and people will react in the way they see fit. I just hope supporter’s will give us time.

“The owners back us and support us and we can push through this period. I will be working extremely hard, as I have been since I first came into the role, to make this football club successful. I love working at Crawley, I love the town, the area and the people and we just have to ride this storm and look forward to positive things in the future.

“I fully believe in myself and the players we have. I have full confidence in them collectively and the supporters to help us climb up the league to where we should be.”

And Betsy added that these are the kind of situations everyone involved can learn from. He said: “I grew up in a tough London estate, I have been fighting all my life, I know there are down moments, and in order to go through those moments you have to go through tough spells. This is one of those spells but I have had huge learning experiences from these kinds of situations and I am going to be stronger and so will the players.

“They won’t accept the position we are in the league, they are better players than they are showing. But there are fine margins that have decided things in the last couple of games and we just have to forget about the things we can’t control and fully focus on what we can and that’s our application and work rate.”

See also 'I’ll always back myself in front of goal' - Crawley Town striker Dom Telford glad to get first league goal for Reds

Reds are looking to bounce back when they face Stevenage and former Crawley Town manager Steve Evans at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday.

He said: “They are a really good side, I have a lot of respect for Steve Evans and what he does as a football manager. We will know we will be in a fight on Saturday. We will be ready for that. We need to control what we can control and make sure again we have a good home performance like we have in the games against Stockport, Portsmouth and Fulham where the supporters have been outstanding. We need them massively on Saturday to get behind the players and be that 12th man.”

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