Crawley Town’s ex-Carlisle United striker Ashley Nadesan says they are looking at the Blues’ recent thrashing by Mansfield Town for pointers on how to hurt them.
Nadesan also described his former club as “a bit direct” ahead of the clash between League Two’s second-bottom side and the third-placed Blues.
The man who had two loan spells at Brunton Park is hoping to help Crawley defy the odds and claim a victory over one of the division’s high fliers on Saturday.
Speaking about promotion-chasing United, Nadesan said: “We know they’re a bit direct. They’re doing really well. Teams like Stevenage and them are doing really well.
“Hopefully we can get something out of it. They’re sitting third in the table and they’ve had a few decent results, but a couple of weeks ago they got beat by Mansfield 4-0.
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“So we’ll look at that game and see what we can do to hurt them.”
Nadesan, 28, has scored six goals in a season when Crawley have failed to live up to pre-season hopes.
Their summer recruitment, backed by cryptocurrency owners WAGMI United, saw major outlays on signings such as Dom Telford from Newport County.
But a run of one win in nine has seen the Red Devils slip into the drop zone, although they have four games in hand on third-bottom Hartlepool United, who are a point above Crawley.
Nadesan, speaking in a club interview, said of their priorities: “We’re trying to stick to what the gaffer’s implementing.
“We need to not concede so early in the second half – that’s the main objective. It’s happened four times in a row now.
“Whatever we’re doing at half-time needs to change.
“But we’re playing well, creating chances, and hopefully the luck will change for us and on Saturday we’ll get three points.”
Nadesan admitted it was the first time he had been involved in a dogfight at the wrong end of the table, and added: “Maybe it brings out something different in me. I want to do as much as I can off the pitch, and scoring and assisting goals on the pitch.”
The Crawley striker scored 13 goals in 43 appearances in two spells on loan at Carlisle from Fleetwood Town in 2017/18 and 2018/19, under Keith Curle and John Sheridan.
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